


Inertia: A Fred Weasley Love Story

by MurdersintheMorgue



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Also drugs, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, F/F, F/M, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, So many OCs, Underage Drinking, and cursing wow, im sorry, lots of explicit convos, lots of hufflepuff stuff, theyre bad kids ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 64,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27508111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurdersintheMorgue/pseuds/MurdersintheMorgue
Summary: "See that's the thing- I don't know, you know? I just feel like I don't know anything about him.""You know a lot about Cedric." Peaches said thoughtfully, reaching to sip at her hot chocolate."Yeah, well, he's been my friend, I guess. And Fred has just been... I dunno, someone I know? Or whatever. Like I'd never really considered him my friend, if that makes sense.""Well," Juliet said lightly, "Guess you'll just have to decide which is better; someone familiar, or someone new."--Alice Sterling was just trying to live out her fifth year at Hogwarts in peace. But then all of a sudden, her friends have a secret groupchat with the Weasley twins, Cedric Diggory keeps following her around, and her sister has arranged for them to stay at a stranger's home for the holidays.It doesn't help that she accidentally made one of the boys in the stranger's home hate her guts.A slow burn Fred Weasley/oc fic, with some Cedric/oc sprinkled in. Feedback is welcome!!
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Original Female Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Neville Longbottom/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 44





	1. What Text?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Modern AU with no Voldemort. Just a simple love story in a magic school. Everyone has phones, kids throw parties, there's drugs, drinking, and sex. Also fair warning going forward I'm not going to put warnings for hints at anxiety, depression, or panic attacks but they will happen in here from time to time- sorry in advance!!! they're pretty tame tho dw dw   
> also apparently i fucked up like which year cedric's supposed to be in and also some other stuff uh soRRY i only just started re-reading the books now and i'm not rewriting all this bc of some small canonical errors sorry   
> also fuck jk rowling

I hadn't meant to show face at the party.  
Sure- I'd heard about it happening. And yeah, I was a little stung when I didn't receive an invitation- I was, afterwall, the one who found out that Crabbe and Goyle were brewing moonshine in the Slytherin bathrooms. I was also the one who helped Judas Horn, the Hufflepuff sixth year I dated for a little while, become the school drug dealer. 'Nothing that doesn't grow out of the ground, though!' he always insisted, 'we trust the Earth in the house of Hufflepuff'. He was a goofy guy.

Anyway, not having received the invitation was yeah, a blow to the ego. I'd always thought the Weasley twins at least found me amusing. Cute, even. I hadn't meant to show up anyway. But Judas and I had been fucking around afterhours, and Filch was coming, and we had needed somewhere to hide quick. Dipping into the Room of Requirement party was the first thing that came into mind.  
So here we were.

Everyone had obviously cheered when Judas arrived, getting handshakes and pats on the back from various students, asking if he had anything on him, if he was selling tonight, how much would just a joint be. The boy went to work, happily chatting away about the medicinal benefits of smoking once a day- not in the morning though, don't want to be living your life in a fog- and I was left alone. The room was packed with all sorts of kids I'd come across in the last two years at Hogwarts- whenever there was a party, it seemed to be the same group that was throwing it. Sure, there were a couple of odd faces- Cedric Diggory, for example, the Hufflepuff prefect, who was making his way over to me.

I raised a brow at him, and he grinned sloppily.

"Diana!" He called, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder, "How are you?"

I laughed.  
"How am I? Better to know how you are. What're you doing with a rough crowd like this. Thought you were our house's golden boy."

He shrugged, still grinning, looking around at the group.  
"Guess I needed a night off from being the golden boy. Besides, it's the holidays! Good enough time as any for a break." He winked, and then slung his arm around my shoulders. "You pick up a drink yet?"

"Not yet, are you offering to get me one?"

He hummed and nodded.  
"Diana, always so cunning and perceptive. Should have been a Slytherin."

I giggled at the thought.

"Go get me my beer, Diggory."  
Cedric put on a jokingly sober face. "Yes ma'am." He conceded with a nod, and bounded off into the crowd. I folded my arms and leaned against the wall. I spied Cho Chang in a corner, giving me an angry glare, and I attempted a friendly smile and wave, which she turned away from. Cedric and Cho had broken up a couple of months ago, and it seemed to be harder on her than it was on him. She was a sweet girl, and I felt bad but- Cedric was a weird kid, and we'd been friendly ever since I'd transferred from Ilvermorny. It wasn't any surprise he was the first guy to talk to me. It was surprising, though, that he was at a party at all. He'd probably had a fight with his dad again, I figured. Only reasonable explanation.

Judas was talking somewhere near me now, and I tried to catch his eye. If I wasn't drunk in the next ten minutes, I was leaving, I decided to myself. I wanted my friend to know that. But instead I caught the eye of the guy he was talking to. It was hard to miss the mop of ginger hair.

Fred Weasley had grown like a fucking foot since last year, and I, along with probably every other girl at this goddamn school, had fucking noticed. He and his brother were popular, adored, even, and always up to something stupid or funny. Loud in class, I had heard, and great in bed. Some girl last year had pierced their ears in the woods, and so they were easier to tell apart now- Fred with three earrings up his right ear, George with two in his left. Fred was talking to Judas offhandedly, as though he was only half paying attention, and his eyes had been on me. I felt my face grow warm, but I held my gaze steady, crossing my arms and raising a brow. He smirked, and seemed to be about to approach my way when Cedric appeared in front of me, dangling a beer in front of my face.

"I didn't open it. I remember how you said that once. You don't drink anything you didn't watch get made."  
I smiled at his flushed face, and took the beer, cracking it open.

"You ever shotgun a beer, Diggory?" I asked as I pressed the cold thing to my lips, taking a long sip, eyes darting over to Fred to see if he was still watching.

He was, eyes peering through long bangs, his twin having joined his side but seeming to be much more engaged in the conversation than his brother. Cedric was telling me no, he'd never heard of such a thing, was it a muggle thing- or worse, an American thing.

I laughed flirtatiously, conscious of Fred's gaze, placing a disinterested hand on Cedric's arm.

"Yes, it's both actually. It's fun though. And gets you shitfaced hella fast. Wanna try one with me?"

"What does it entail?"

"Well," I took another sip from my beer, making sure to meet Fred's eyes, "You take a beer can, and like, a key- or a knife, or something- and you stab a hole into a beer. Then, you put the hole to your mouth," I tapped my lips, still glancing at Fred, "-and open the beer. It all rushes out of the hole- cause of the pressure or whatever, and you gotta chug the whole thing- oh my god, this one time-" I forgot what I was doing, excited actually about this hilarious story I was going to tell Cedric, meeting his eyes instead of Freds and turning my earnest attention to him. "-okay, okay, this one time I was in the city, right-"  
"The city?" Cedric interrupted. I huffed.  
"Uh, like New York. Whatever, so I was in the city with some friends, and we'd just gotten fakes-"  
"So you really do have fakes in America? I always thought that was just a movie thing."  
I laughed, shaking my head.

"Yeah, we really have fakes in the US. Hey, stop interrupting me!" I whined, smacking his arm playfully, and Cedric laughed, bumping me a little, and then staying there. The contact felt warm.

"Anyway, as I was saying, one time I was in the city, we'd just gotten fakes, and we were buying some tallboys-" Cedric opened his mouth, but I held up a hand, "-big cans of beer. They're cheap. We got some tallboys right, and we were standing in line, but I was already shitfaced because we'd pregamed pretty hard, cause it was- I think it was like, James's birthday or something. Oh no, it was probably Emilia's- anyway anyway, I was holding this big can of beer in line, and just as I was about to pay, I dropped the thing, and it popped open and started spraying everywhere- ugh and I was wearing this super cute dress like it fit me- nevermind nevermind, essentially I had to shotgun a whole tallboy right there in the bodega, and like the cashier was so impressed he let me have another one for free."  
We looked at one another. Cedric seemed amused, but he wasn't laughing or anything.  
"I guess you had to be there." I said defeatedly, and then Cedric laughed, which was a nice sound, and he was still pressed next to me, which was warm. I giggled into my beer, tipping my head back to finish the thing, and snapping the tab into the can, clanking it around.  
"Need another one?" Someone said from behind me, and I turned to look into a long, freckled face.

"Fred!" Cedric said happily, clapping the boy's shoulder with drunken ease. Fred smiled his way, but kept glancing down at me. I bit my lip and shrugged, still shaking my can without thinking.

"You know, " I mused, looking between the two of them, "I'd really like a shot. Oh, " I tapped my mouth thoughtfully, "-and an explanation as to why, exactly, I had to crash this cute little shindig."

Fred looked surprised.  
"What do you mean, you didn't get the text?"  
I rolled my eyes.  
"No, Weasley, I didn't get any text."  
"George was supposed to text you."  
"Guess George doesn't have my number." I said, acting coy, batting my eyelashes up at the ceiling. Fred laughed, shaking his head.  
"Guess we'll have to fix that."  
"Guess you will. It's embarrassing, you know, not getting invited somewhere."  
He hummed, and Cedric seemed a little lost as to what to do.  
"Shots?" He decided to reiterate, and Fred and I laughed, nodded, Fred leading the way to the alcohol table.

I guess I'd started partying at an unusually young age. I'd always been sort of age ambiguous, people saying I could be 13 or 24 based on what I wore or how I did my makeup. I always figured it was probably more a way of thinking- if you believed you were old enough to be there, then you'd seem old enough to be there. That's what I'd always told myself, anyway, when I was fourteen and getting drunk around New York City in the summer between attending Ilvermorny. My mom was a no maj, and my dad had died when my sister and I were eight and nine respectfully, so we were stuck in this sort of in between worlds every summer. Before I went into my third year at Ilvermorny, though, we'd lost our house in a stupid, backhanded sort of way, and my mom was forced to move back home, to England. And my sister and I forced to transfer, to Hogwarts.

Long story short though, I knew how to take a shot.

"One, two, three." Cedric, Fred and I said around the same time, and I banged my shotglass against the table before tipping my head back and pouring it down my open throat. Fred winced beside me, and Cedric was coughing a little.  
"Another?" I asked them, reaching for one of the unmarked bottles I knew came from the Slytherin dorms. Fred shook his head and Cedric moved his arms into an 'x' motion. I shrugged, pouring another for myself and taking it with ease. The alcohol felt warm going down, and I sighed a little, any anxiety I'd been feeling previously unknotting itself slowly. I reached to snag another beer from the ice bucket, and looked up at my two companions.  
"Were you the one who brought Judas?" Fred asked me suddenly, and I looked up to realize he was watching my ex boyfriend. I glanced over to see that Judas had gathered together a group of people now, and they were sitting on some of the couches, doing bong rips as Judas prattled on about some sort of wizard world conspiracy theory he'd watched like one youtube video on and was convinced meant the end of the world.  
"Yeah." I sighed, going back to open my beer and take a sip, glancing up at Cedric, who was watching me. I raised my eyebrows at him playfully, and his face flushed harder, but he smiled and elbowed me a little. I pushed into it, and we began to go back and forth, both giggling.

"Who brought Horn?" George seemed to come out of nowhere, and Cedric and I paused in our playfight to look over at the twins, who were both watching Judas now.  
"What's the big deal? He's a good guy." I said, gesturing to where he sat, "Harmless, really."  
Fred rolled his eyes.  
"Yeah but he's so..."  
"Annoying." George finished for his brother. Fred nodded. I frowned.  
"I mean, yeah I guess he can be kind of buggy sometimes, but I wouldn't call him annoying."  
"Didn't he cheat on you?" Cedric said suddenly.  
I felt my face grow hot as all three boys looked down at me.  
"Um- I mean- He- well-" I sputtered, unsure how to explain what exactly it was that transpired between Judas and I. We were- well, kind of like friends. He did cheat on me. Like, a couple of times. But he was always doing something fun, and when you didn't have to rely on him for anything he was sort of a blast to hang out with.

I tried explaining this to the three boys, but they didn't seem to buy it.

"You still like him!" George said playfully.  
"Nu uh, no way." I feverishly waved my hands and shook my head, "I hold no feelings for Judas Horn. Like at all. He could keel over tomorrow and I'd be like, damn that's a shame." My lips felt disconnected from my brain, and I mulled over what I said as the three boys laughed, "Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. But I definitely never ever will have feelings for Judas again. Going through all that bullshit last year was a nightmare."  
"Promise?' Fred said suddenly, and George glanced between the two of us. I felt a little taken aback by the urgency that his voice was laden with, but I wrote it off to them just not liking the guy.  
"Um, yeah, promise promise. Even-" I held up my hand, "pinky swear."  
Fred looked confused for a split second, then his face melted into amusement, and he took my pinky with his.  
"You have to kiss your hand." I said seriously, going to kiss my own. He kept my gaze as our faces grew close, and I felt something warm tangle itself in my stomach. But I brushed it off. As chill as Fred was, I'd made it a rule to not go after anymore six years. They were always fucking with the feelings of underclassmen, and I had gone through enough of that shit for a lifetime with Judas. Besides, Cedric was right there, and he was cute and funny, and a well known 'good guy'. Even if he was a little weird.

The moment was fleeting, though, and when he pulled apart George looked amused, Cedric looked a little lost. I dropped my hand and took another sip of beer. 

The party went on into the early hours of morning, and Cedric and I were two of the last to leave, stumbling and bumping into one another as we went. Fred and George were sitting on a couch with a group of kids whose faces I'd recognized but names I couldn't remember.

"Leaving so soon, Sterling?" Fred called out as Cedric and I leaned against one another trying to find the way out of the Room of Requirement. I turned, surprised that Fred knew my last name, and was even more surprised to see that the group was watching us. There was no one else left in the place.

"Well, yeah, gotta be up bright and early tomorrow." I called back, grinning and Cedric tripped a little and fell into me. We both burst into giggles, and I noticed that some of the girls' faces looked a little annoyed at the interaction. What was with girls getting mad over me being friends with Diggory, I thought with drunken frustration, but the thought was gone as soon as it came when Cedric pushed his face into my hair. The girls turned away, and I was a little sad. I pushed Cedric's face away from mine and helped him steady himself.

"Do you guys need help getting back to your dorm?" George said suddenly, and the genuinity of it sobered me up a little.  
"We could help too!" One of the girls squealed, standing and reaching for Cedric's arm. He let her take it with a grateful expression, and the whole group seemed to get to their feet. The girls barely looked my way as they latched on to Cedric and I huffed as he was ushered away from me. Fred, George and the last guy held back, Fred patting me on the back.  
"Sorry if we interrupted something." He said with an easy smile.  
"You two were looking kinda cozy, now that I think of it." George followed.  
"What's your name, again?" The third guy was peering down at me, dreadlocks hanging low and he pushed them out of his face with a large hand.  
"Diana." I chirped, throwing up a peace sign out of habit. The boy looked at it in amusement, "Um- I'm a fifth year. Hufflepuff." I gestured to Cedric, "Only reason we may have seemed cozy. Hufflepuffs are affectionate, I guess."

"Lee Jordan." The boy held out his hand, and I shook it timidly.

"The sun's coming up." George whispered offhandedly as we got out into the hall. Cedric and the group of girls were way up ahead, and making a lot of giggling noises, so we held back in case some teacher rounded a corner.


	2. A Word?

I woke with a sense of shame. This was usual for me after a night of drinking, and I calmed my breathing, going over every interaction I'd had, every word I could remember saying throughout the night. I couldn't think of anything I could have done that would annoy someone, and after a while, the shame and anxiety began to settle into a slightly uncomfortable headache. I sighed, feeling feverish, and rolled over to check my phone. It was already past twelve, and I scrolled to check my notifications. There were a couple of new instagram followers from last night, including Lee Jordan and Fred Weasley. I had a text from an unsaved number that just said 'George', and I saved it as 'Maybe: George'. There were a couple of streak snaps that I ignored, and a message from my group chat that simply read- "brunch?"  
The text had been sent only a couple of minutes ago, and so I opened the chat. It was from Peaches, a round faced girl I'd grown oddly fond of over the past year. I texted her back:

"isnt brunch supposed to be at like 11 or smth"

The reply was instant:

"brunch can be whenever i want it to be -- come to the dining hall!!!!!!!!!"

I groaned, and shoved my face into my pillow, before slowly sliding out of bed and to my trunk. I stretched as I surveyed my collection of knit sweaters and sniffed my one pair of leggings, deeming them okay to wear in public if I sprayed them with perfume a little. Only one of my roommates was still in the room, and I realized she was watching me after a moment longer than necessary.

"Morning." I said cheerfully, and she huffed in amusement.   
"I don't think I've ever seen you wash those." She said back. Her name was Aurora, and she was super anal about keeping the room clean. I looked at the leggings in my hand for a second, reached for my wand and muttered a spell. They stretched out and a little puff of steam coughed out of them. Aurora nodded approvingly, and I rolled my eyes when she looked back at her phone, sticking out my tongue at nothing in particular as I turned to change.

The dining hall was nearly empty when I showed face, but my friends were still huddled in a group in the middle of one of the center tables. I slid up next to Peaches, who was in a heated discussion with our friend- named Wilda- about the proper way to give a successful blowjob.

"Jesus Christ gang, I haven't even had my breakfast yet." I cried as I tuned in. Peaches and Wilda ignored me, but Juliet who sat beside them looked happy to have new company.

"They've been at this for like an hour." She whined as I slid Peaches's plate out from under her arm, surveying what was left on it and scooping some fresh eggs for myself.

"Disgusting." I said, shaking my head and shoveling some food into my mouth.   
"I heard you were at the Weasley thing last night." Juliet continued, shifting away from the other two girls, but they stopped when they heard what she'd said.   
"Wait- What!" Peaches shrieked, turning to smack me on the shoulder. I held up my hands and made a face, still chewing. "I thought you said we weren't invited to that!"  
"We weren't!" I protested around my mouthful of food. Wilda grimaced.   
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Juliet said in a tired tone. I swallowed before continuing.   
"I didn't mean to- I was just hanging out with Judas-" All three groaned and rolled their eyes, "-hey okay come on, we weren't doing anything just hanging out! But then Filch showed up out of nowhere- I swear to god that guy can walk through walls-"   
"Oh my god," Peaches cried, "Get to the bloody point!"  
"Jeeeez chill, basically we just dipped into the Room of Requirement okay? And the party happened to be happening there. And then I ran into Cedric-"  
"Cedric Diggory?" Wilda exclaimed.   
"Yeah, do we know any other Cedric? I ran into him, and then the twins started talking to me and I dunno, I took some shots. Cedric got shitfaced. It was pretty lame, to be honest." I shrugged.

"Lame?" A voice echoed from behind me, and I flinched, looking up to squint into the faces of the Weasley twins.   
"George, did you just hear her call one of our parties lame?"

"I sure did Fred."   
Fred tch'd and shook his head.   
"And to think, we were going to ask you and your friends what you were doing tonight."   
"What a shame." George feigned disappointment, "We were really looking forward to your guys's company."  
"What!" Peaches cried, swiveling to face the two of them, "Please, we aren't doing anything, obviously, we never do anything."  
"Hey! We do stuff!" Juliet exclaimed, but Peaches shushed her with a hand.   
"Nothing, we never do anything. And Diana here, she doesn't know what she's talking about. She went out drinking like one time in 'New York City'", she said it with air quotes and a silly face, and I smacked her shoulder with the back of my hand, "- and she thinks she's hot shit. But she's really not, she's just as lame as the rest of us."   
Fred and George listened with amused expressions, gaze steady and straight at Peaches's face. I could feel her getting nervous, and her prattling went on for a couple moments longer about how we were always just hanging out in the common room, but sometimes we drank wine and did muggle witch bullshit, sometimes we read fanfiction out loud and made drinking games out of them, that our favorite was fanfiction for the 2007 classic Bee Movie, how it was incredible the things these kids came up with.   
Juliet cut her off there.   
"Look, what Peaches is trying to say, is that we three are still free this evening, so if you wanted to exclude Diana for her rude words and just invite us, we'd be elated to join you." She smiled flirtatiously. I rolled my eyes and glared at her, shoveling more eggs into my mouth. The twins behind me burst into laughter.   
"Bee movie fanfiction?"   
"That's brilliant!"  
"Why haven't we ever done that."  
They sat on either side of Peaches, pushing me out of the way. I scoffed at them in disbelief, reaching for Juliet's coffee, which was black, and cold, but downed it anyway. She shot me an innocent look, and moved to pour some more into the mug.   
"They're so bad." Wilda was saying, crossing her arms and leaning forward. The twins straddled the bench, and Peaches seemed to glow under their attention.

We'd labeled ourselves a long time ago into stereotypes of female friend groups. Juliet was the hot one, mature and smooth talking, with a curvy frame and long black hair that curled at the ends. Wilda was the sexy one, her voice gravelly and low from smoking cigarettes at a young age, her eyes dark and hair cropped short to frame her sharp jawline. And Peaches was cute, bubbly and lewd, her face round and flushed, hair curly and a strawberry blondish color. "And you're like, the cool one." Juliet had told me as we discussed it, the other three nodding in approval.   
"Yeah, boys always like how like, 'chill' you are or whatever." Peaches said with her air quotes. The three of them had been friends since first year, and sometimes it felt like I was just a sort of add on to their group. But they did their best to try to include me, as dimwitted as the attempts could be sometimes.

Peaches liked boys' attention, though.

"We usually get pink wine." She was explaining to the twins.

"Juliet has a contact in Ravenclaw." Wilda added.  
"Yeah, his name is Huck." Peaches wiggled her eyebrows at Juliet, who rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure he listens to Hozier you guys."   
Wilda's mouth popped into a little 'o'.   
"That makes so much sense, actually."

"Listens to Hozier?" Fred asked.   
"Like he's," I spoke up this time, and he looked at me, and I made an effeminate motion with my hand, "-you know?"

Fred and George shook their heads.   
"I'm lost." Fred said.   
"Yeah." Said George.   
We rolled our eyes.   
"So hetero." Wilda drawled, taking a long sip of tea. Juliet and Peaches giggled.   
"Gay, we think he might be gay." I elaborated slowly, as though speaking to a child. Fred and George made little 'oh' sounds in unison, and it was cute, and I lost my appetite. I took Juliet's coffee again, and she made a frustrated noise.

"Anyway, we get pink wine. It's so good. And then we do face masks and read tarot cards and shit. It's really fun." Peaches concluded with a satisfied smile.

"We were thinking about going into the woods." George said curtly.  
"Yeah, it's almost a full moon tonight, who knows what we could see." Fred elaborated.

"Catch a werewolf."   
"Giant spider."  
"Meet a centaur."  
"It's going to be freezing out." I said with a deadpan. They both looked at me, frowning.

"Buzzkill." George whined.

"Sounds fun." Wilda said desperately, making a face at me to say, 'what are you doing, don't blow this for us'. I pouted.   
"Guys, it's winter. It's going to be cold. Why can't we just chill in a common room tonight or something."   
"She's just tired from your lame party, I think." Peaches said innocently.

"Yeah, maybe I am." I muttered, taking another sip of coffee.

"Well, maybe we could do something a little more tame. What do you think, George?"

The boys seemed to have a silent exchange over Peaches's head, but I couldn't see what Fred was doing.

"Yeah." George sighed finally, seeming defeated, "I think some sixth years are holding a Christmas movie party in the Gryffindor common room."   
"Christmas movies?" Peaches squealed.   
"I'd actually rather go into the forest." I muttered, but only Juliet heard me. She rolled her eyes at me, and I shrugged sheepishly. I fucking hated Christmas movies.

"We could probably sneak you guys in." Fred mused.   
"But it'll cost you, for sure."   
"Cost us? How archaic." Wilda said, leaning back now, surveying the remnants of breakfast on her plate.   
"We'll let you in if you manage to get us a bottle of firewhiskey." Fred said confidently.

"It's incredible in hot chocolate." George assured us.

"No problem." Juliet said lightly, "I know a guy."  
"She always knows a guy." Peaches giggled, and Juliet kicked her under the table. Peaches yelped, and giggled again, tossing a napkin Juliet's way.   
The twins looked between the two of them.   
"You guys are weird." George said matter-of-factly.   
"Yeah we're uh, not like other girls." I said jokingly, raising my voice and pushing my hair behind my ear. Fred snorted.

"Are you guys coming or what?" Someone called, and Lee Jordan was sitting with a couple of the girls from the night before. He flashed a smile my way as the twins stood, telling us they'd see us later, and to make sure not to forget the firewhiskey.

"Oh god, Juliet, please for the love of god tell me you actually know a guy." Peaches hissed once the twins were out of view, "If I don't get to swallow George Weasley's cum I think I will actually die."  
"Jesus Christ Peaches," Juliet laughed, "Yes, I actually know a guy."   
"I'm going to live. Bless you." Peaches cried, smacking her hand to her chest.   
"They're literally identical twins." Wilda pointed out, "Why specifically George?"   
"Just because they're identical doesn't mean they're the same person, you dolt. George is so sweet and soft, okay? And he's a little taller- look." She gestured to the two boys, who were not sitting with their friends. They were hunched over, and so it was hard to tell if she was just being crazy.   
"They have bad posture." I mused. "Sloped shoulders. Besides, the best way to tell them apart is their profiles. Duh."  
The three looked at me in confusion. I pointed at my own nose.   
"Fred has a bump. George doesn't. And their earrings, I guess. They're pretty easy to tell apart."   
"Do you like Fred?" Juliet sang. I pulled a face at her.   
"What the fuck? No? I'm just perceptive."  
"Oh my god, Diana Sterling has a crush." Wilda cried.  
"Holy fuck, I don't."

"Yeah, you do, you're totally blushing." Peaches teased. I looked between the three of them in disbelief, and they burst into a fit of giggles.   
"Y'all are the worst."   
"Drink!" Wilda yelled, and they all scrambled to take a dramatic sip of something. I rolled my eyes at their antics, and out of the corner of my eye noticed that Fred was looking at us. I ignored him stubbornly.

I found my sister, later, while meandering around the grounds. Juliet and Wilda had gone to see Juliet's 'guy' about the firewhiskey, and Peaches went to take her midday nap, so I'd been left with some time to kill until we met up later to pregame and get ready. My mind was fuzzy, and I'd almost missed her and her group of friends. But there they were, huddled together on the frozen grass, doing something stupid, probably.

She was a fourth year, in Ravenclaw. We were almost exactly one year apart, to the week. But she was always smarter than me, and always had a hard time getting along with her peers. Back in Ilvermorny she'd been known as sort of a recluse, never going to hang out with anyone, only really interested in her hobby, embedding magic in computer code. But something had changed when we came to Hogwarts, and she had seemed to grow a little into herself, gain a little more confidence, be a little more outgoing. It was nice to see her out and with people. It was probably all this time we spent away from our mom, she'd told me once.

Anyway, I obviously had to go and bug her.

"Yo, what's up kids." I called out as I approached the group. They all looked up at me, and Alice- my sister- seemed absolutely delighted to see me.

"What the fuck do you want?" She called back. I shrugged, grinning, as I came to stand over all of them. It appeared they were doing something with some potted mushrooms, which was held in the lap of a particularly tall looking guy with dark shaggy hair.

"What're you guys up to?" I asked offhandedly, gesturing to the boy. He seemed flustered at being singled out, and stuttered a little as his face blushed red.

"Just- we're- well- it's, see- this is-"  
"What Neville means to say," one of the girls spoke up, sporting familiar looking red hair and a freckled face, "is that we're seeing how long it takes for the leaping toadstools to go into hibernation in the cold."   
"It's been about ten minutes already!" A blonde girl chirped from beside my sister, eyes wide and expression vacant. I looked at the group of them as my sister glared up at me.   
"Nerdy." I said in a satisfied tone. "How do you know they're not going to die?"   
"Neville's good with plants." Alice said curtly, gesturing to the boy, who blushed once more, "He wouldn't let them die."   
"Thanks Alice." He said shyly, and my sister offered him an offhanded smile. I looked between the two of them, and folded my arms, giving my sister a knowing look, and she rolled her eyes.   
"Can you fuck off? Don't you like, have some boy to whore yourself out to?"   
"Jesus Christ, Cimex." I scoffed, calling her by her nickname, "-that was totally unneeded."  
"Well, like, you are. A whore."   
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. Her friends were giggling around her. "I'm not a whore! I was literally in a committed relationship like, my whole time here."   
She shrugged, looking down at her notebook.   
"I don't make up the rumors, Nox." She said, calling me by my nickname condescendingly, "Maybe if you weren't always getting wasted at parties people wouldn't say things about you."   
I knew she was teasing, and I knew it was something that my family did- the three of us, mom, Alice and I. We were mean and harsh to one another in order to prepare each other for life, my mom said once. But something about what she said had struck a vein, and something that I'd been holding in since Judas and I had broken up unfurled a little inside of my stomach.   
"Bruh-" I retorted, trying to cover up my hurt and discomfort, "That was rude as fuck."   
She grinned sheepishly at me, and I melted a little. As much of a pain in the ass my sister could be, she was still my baby sister, and I'd literally die for her.   
"Sorry." Alice was saying, and batting her big green eyes up at me. I rolled my own, and surveyed the group, who looked a little uncomfortable after the exchange.   
"Wait- aren't you a Weasley?" I said suddenly, pointing at the redheaded girl. She blinked, and crossed her arms.   
"Yeah, why?"   
I shrugged.   
"I dunno, like, you brothers have been on my ass suddenly. It's kind of annoying."  
"They can be annoying. You mean the twins, right?"   
I nodded. She sighed.   
"Yeah. They mean well though. Just don't add anything to inflate their egos, okay? They suddenly think they're like, god's grace to earth this year."   
I laughed, thinking back to their behaviour at the party.   
"Yeah, they kinda do, don't they. Hey- what was your name?"   
"Me?" The girl pointed to herself. I made an 'of course' motion, and she blushed a little, "I'm Ginny."   
"Nice to meet you Ginny. And you guys?" I gestured to the other two.   
"I'm Neville." The boy said at the same time as Alice saying, "I already said his name."   
"Oh, right, and you're...."   
"Luna." The girl next to Alice said, and shifted closer to her, further from me. I nodded, sucking my teeth a little and surveying the little group.

"Well, you guys have fun with your plant stuff. Nerds."   
"Wait, Nox-" Alice said suddenly, "Have you heard from mom?"

I made a face.   
"No? Should I have?"   
"She's been trying to reach you- we tried to call you last night, but I said you might've been, uh, busy."   
The party, I figured. It was weird how fast news travelled when everyone literally lived together.   
"Anyway, she said she's not sure if we'll have somewhere to celebrate Christmas. We might have to stay here for the holidays."  
My chest suddenly hurt.   
"Ah." Was all I managed out, and Alice shrugged.

"You should probably call her."

"Yeah." I breathed, already turning to get away from the group, "Yeah, I'll try. Later nerds." I was waving behind my back, trying to keep my voice steady, but I could feel hot tears pricking behind my eyes. Fuck, this was embarressing. I managed to duck into an empty corridor before the hyperventilating started. I pressed my back against the wall, and slid to the floor, bringing my knees tight to my chest. I tried to focus on steadying my breath, but my brain wouldn't stop racing.


	3. You Don't Know?

It'd been a weird blow, losing our house. Our mom was trying her best, but she just couldn't keep up with all the bills. First the water went out. Then the electricity. Then the letter came, and we were being ushered to pack 'only the essentials'. It wasn't her fault, we found out later- our finance manager had been skimming some money off the top. But it was fucked up because- that was money that we really didn't have. And then he disappeared, and mom had to move back in with her dad, who was a piece of shit. Then we were basically couch surfing until we got news that Alice and I had tested into Hogwarts, and mom insisted we go there as soon as we possibly could, that she'd have a place for us to stay by the time the holidays came. But then a year passed, and we were still on couches, still travelling all summer, still staying in hotels and airbnbs. She worked hard, my mom, but life was harder without my dad, and she'd lost years of experience when he was sick, years of connections she could have made, years that seemed like a deadweight on her resume. And now it was Christmas time again, which meant another year had gone and she still didn't have a job, probably, which meant she's probably sleeping on a couch somewhere, which meant that we wouldn't be able to see her, which meant that we still didn't have a home, so no home and no dad and no-

"Hey, Diana?"

Fuck.

It was Cedric, and he was concerned. I could hear it in his voice. But I was frozen in place, partly by anxiety, partly by shame. I made no movement, and he was silent for a while.   
"Do you mind if I sit here?" He finally said softly, and I managed a small shrug. There was some rustling, and I felt his presence beside me, even though he was too far to be touching.   
"I had a good time last night, you know." He said. "It was fun. You're a lot of fun to hang out with. I guess I didn't realize how much I missed that when I was with Cho and you were with..." He trailed off, before continuing, "Anyway, I hope we get to hang out more now, that we're both, well, you know. And you're- I don't know, you're easy to talk to, I guess. I never feel like I have to pretend with you? That probably sounds like bullshit. I guess I'm just talking because silence makes me nervous. Oh, fuck, I hope I'm not making this worse, I'm just-"   
As he continued to prattle, I focused on his meandering words, and my thoughts slowed first, then my breath. Finally, I felt as though I breathed in over a hump in my chest, and I felt better. I sniffled, and rubbed my eyes into my sweater, before looking up at him. Cedric jumped when he realized I'd moved, and I couldn't help but laugh a little, which made him laugh, and then we were both laughing and it felt really, really good to laugh.   
"Thanks." I finally said, heaving out a healthy sigh, "Sorry, I just uh- got some stupid news and I guess it became a little... I dunno. I'm just really hungover." I laughed nervously, "But thanks. I had a good time with you too."   
He beamed, but then softened.   
"Do you want to talk about it?"   
"No." I scoffed, shaking my head, "No, nah, it's dumb."   
"It's not dumb if it upset you, Diana."   
His serious tone made me feel slightly taken aback. When I was with Judas, he'd just sort of ignore whenever I was sad until I was out of it. I thought that I'd liked that- I liked to just sort of be alone when I was upset. It was easier, I felt more comfortable in expressing how I felt when it was just to me. But having Cedric seem so honest made me feel a little sick.

"I mean, I think it's dumb." I said earnestly. Shaking my head and rubbing an eye, "-and how I feel about it is most important, right? Besides, it's passed, see?" I grinned widely, and pointed at the grin. At that moment, a familiar group rounded the corner.   
"Ah, fuck." I muttered as the Weasley twins with their friends sauntered past, almost missing Cedric and I before I saw Fred's eye fall upon us.   
"Hey, nice to see you again." The boy drawled, and his face was so far when i was on the ground and he was standing up. Cedric smiled at the two as the rest of their friends continued past us, Lee shouting out some greetings as they went. Fred and George hovered, and teasing remarks seemed to be bouncing around in their brains until George actually looked at me, sniffling and curled up, and he bumped Fred with his shoulder.   
"Are you alright?' They asked over one another, not quite in unison. The oddity of them being out of sync made me laugh again, and I shook my head as a yes.   
"Yeah, god you two are everywhere. I'm all good. Just a little hungover."   
"Overwhelmed." Cedric tried. I pointed at him and nodded.   
"Mhm, overwhelmed. Exactly."   
"Okay." Fred said, sounding unsure and looking between the two of us.   
"It'd be hard to imagine Cedric making a girl cry, anyway." George was saying, and Cedric flushed a little, laughing.

"Nah, nah." I waved a hand, "Fuck off, you two. Your twin mind reading shit is freaking me out."

The twins laughed, but it didn't seem genuine, and Fred's face seemed a little crestfallen.   
"Byee." I emphasized, and they bounded away with a simple,

"See you later." From each. I rolled my eyes, and then closed them, slowly letting my head rest on the wall behind me.

"What're you doing later?" Cedric asked.   
"Huh? Oh, um. Apparently they are watching Christmas movies in the Gryffindor common room tonight. My friends and I were invited."   
Cedric's 'oh' sounded slightly put out, and I opened an eye to look at him.

"You not doing anything tonight?"   
"Um, no, I am. The team wanted to hang out, drink some beers, talk Quidditch, you know." He waved a hand, "Stuff."   
I nodded, understandingly.

"Sounds super fun." I said without emotion. He chuckled, looking at his hands.   
"Yeah, it's going to be a right blast."

A moment of silence passed between us, and I wasn't really sure what to say. There wasn't really anything to say, I guess. I looked down at my phone, which I'd started to spin in my hand absently. There was a text there from Judas, and from a 'Maybe: Elliot', who was a fifth year Slytherin I'd been hanging out with. Both were just asking what I was doing right now. I opened Elliot's first.

"Okay, I'm gonna go chill with a friend now, I guess." I said to Cedric, and he let out a little hum, nodding understandingly.   
"You sure you're okay?" He asked, and it made me slightly uncomfortable once again.   
"Yeah man, I'm all good. Seriously." We looked at one another for a moment, "Seriously." I reiterated, dropping to an honest tone. He nodded again, before sighing and standing slowly, offering me a hand. I took it.

Elliot was a pretty cool guy. We'd started talking in potions a couple of months ago because I was failing, hilariously. After his help for a month, I was back to a steady 'passing' pace. Sure, he could be kinda blunt sometimes, and the company he kept was hella weird. Like, there was this Draco kid who'd always be hanging around with his friends while we were studying that seemed to desperately need a xanax. And maybe a good fuck. And then there was Terence Higgs who was literally just a straight up racist, and always made me feel hella uncomfy. But Elliot himself was chill, and whenever we hung out it was easy. Mindless shit, like hitting a bowl a couple of times by the lake.

"It's so cold." I was saying, stomping my feet and rubbing my hands up and down my arms. Elliot was laughing at me, smoke lazily drifting from his mouth. He offered me the bowl, and I took it with cold fingers.

"It was your idea to smoke." He said calmly, putting his hands in his pockets and gazing out at the lake. I mumbled defeatedly, and held the bowl to my mouth, lighting the bud and taking in a deep breath before lifting my thumb and taking it away from my lips.   
"I didn't know we'd be going outside-" I said, still holding in the smoke, before double inhaling and exhaling slowly. I offered the bowl back to Elliot but he shook his head, so I emptied the thing and put it back in it's ziplock bag.   
"Malfoy's been kinda pissy recently, and has a tendency to be kind of a narc."   
"Do you know what's got him all worked up?"   
"Nah, no one does. Blaise thinks it might have something to do with that guy Potter, but Pansy thinks it's something more than that."   
"Maybe he has a crush on the Potter kid."   
Elliot laughed, and then stopped suddenly, looking at me quizzically.

"You know, maybe he does."   
I barked out a laugh, clapping a hand over my mouth, feeling giggly and woozy at once. Elliot stretched and made to stand from the crate he was sitting on.   
"Where are you going?" I whined, "I just got comfortable."  
"Inside, you dolt. Weren't you the one complaining about the cold."  
"Oh, yeah." I said breathlessly, standing with him, "I'm hungry."   
He laughed, and we made our way back to the castle.

"Elliot, you know anything about the Weasley kids?" I said suddenly, unsure why I was even asking.   
"I mean, I know they're poor and Malfoy hates them for it. Why do you ask?"

Yeah, I didn't know.   
"Uh, I just, I was thinking about how many of them there are-" I started to say, which was kind of true, because I'd sort of been thinking about how many of them there were recently, and "-that, they all have one mom. That poor woman. I mean, there's what like, okay so there's the twins, and that one kid the year below us-"

"Ron." Elliot interjected helpfully. I looked at him for a second, before pointing and nodding. "Right, yeah, Ron. And then there's Ginny. That's already four," I held the fingers up, "But then there's also like, what, two more that's older?"   
"Three."   
I looked at him again, this time curiously. He shrugged.   
"There's three more."   
"So that makes seven."   
I stopped walking.   
"That's seven babies."  
"Yeah?" Elliot made a motion to get on with it.   
"Seven babies, Elliot. Can you imagine? Seven births? Holy shit their mom's vag is probably-"  
"Jesus, Diana, I really don't want to think about Weasley fanny right now."   
I giggled, and he huffed, and we continued walking in silence. The silence wasn't as awkward as it was with Cedric, and I found my mind floating back to thinking about the conversation we'd had earlier. It was weird, and I wondered if maybe there could be something there. Something between us. But it was also Cedric Diggory, and everyone was in love with Cedric Diggory, so why would he ever be interested in crass old me, right?

I frowned at the self depreciating spiral my brain had taken on, but was relieved when we entered the warmth of the castle. I smacked my cheeks a little as they warmed up, and Elliot hit my hands away from my face after a few moments.   
"Where to now? You said you were hungry, right? I have some snacks in the common room."   
I rolled my eyes.   
"But the Slytherin common room? That shit is so depressing, my guy. Let's go to my room. I'm sure I have some cookies somewhere."   
Elliot looked doubtful for a moment.   
"Oh, come on. It's easy to sneak into."   
"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Wha- that you're a Slytherin? Maaaan, it's the Hufflepuff common room. We have Slytherins in there all the time."   
He looked hesitant, but I moved to push him from behind with a shoulder.   
"Dude, you're actually pretty tall." I said without thinking, and Elliot giggled, turning to look down at me. I shrugged.   
"I never noticed." I definitely only came up to about his collarbone. My fuzzy mind took Elliot in for a second. His cropped curly hair, his dark skin, his strong cheekbones and deep set eyes.   
"Yo, you kinda look like greek statue my dude."   
"Diana, are you flirting with me?" He seemed serious, and his eyes bore into mine. I dramatically made an 'x' with my arms.   
"Nah, no flirting, Purely platonic compliments. Bro let's gooooo I'm literally going to die."

He started to laugh, and I tugged him along by his wrist.

The Hufflepuff common rooms were easy to sneak into, as I'd told Elliot. The paintings turned a blind eye a lot, since Hugglepuffs are friends to everyone, and they're pretty trusting when it came to letting people into their space. Besides, it was warm, and bright, and everyone was so friendly. Why wouldn't someone want to come hang out there. Elliot ducked under a plant as we walked in, and I giggled, pushing it so the hanging thing swung back and forth.   
"Welcome." I said offhandedly as I gestured around. A fire was crackling in the fireplace, and some kids were playing lo fi beats on the couches, doing homework, chatting, mingling. Someone had brought a keurig last winter, and we'd slowly fashioned a sort of snacks and drinks bar in the far of the room, with a minifridge and everything.

"Do you want some coffee? I'm gonna make some coffee." I said haphazardly as I beelined for the keurig, shuffling through the snack bags as the machine whirred to life.   
"Um, maybe just a tea is okay." Elliot said softly,

"You got it big guy." I said without thought, and gestured to the drawer with all the options.   
"Diana!" Someone called from behind me, and I grabbed a bag of plain chips before turning, popping them open into Peaches's face.

"Yo." I deadpanned, shoveling a couple of chips into my mouth, reveling in their texture.   
"Are you stoned?" She hissed at me, peering at my eyes. I nodded enthusiastically.   
"This is Elliot." I said around my chips, shoveling more into my mouth and gesturing offhandedly to my friend. Peaches looked the boy up and down before smiling sweetly, putting out a hand.   
"I'm Peaches." She cooed, "And Diana, don't talk with your mouth full." She smacked my arm, and I balked, choking a little. Elliot held out my coffee wordlessly, and I took it with a gracious look, sipping it greedily. I could feel the heat of the drink all the way to my stomach, and it was a pleasant, almost erotic feeling. I sighed happily, and finally looked to Peaches again, who was glancing between the two of us expectedly.

'Uh- Elliot's the one who helped me with Potions." I tried, hoping that's what she was looking for.   
"Potions! So is that what you're into?"   
"Um," Elliot seemed unsure of the situation, and I gestured to one of the couches that had just emptied, before meandering over to claim it, happily settling in with my chips and coffee. The three followed as Elliot explained that it wasn't necessarily that he liked potions, it's just that he was better at it than I was.

"Which isn't saying much." He said in an even tone, and Peaches giggled at the look I gave him, choosing to sit on the floor facing us instead of the couch.

"How was your nap, babe?" I asked her lightly, and Peaches sighed happily.   
"Good. I wasn't woken up by anyone."   
"That's good. Have any prophetic dreams?"   
"Not this time."   
I hummed, sipping my coffee, slipping my phone out of my pocket and glancing at the screen. There'd been some texts in the group chat that I had missed, and a couple more from Judas. Something inside of me squirmed, and I checked Judas's messages first, but they were just a couple of memes and asking if I was doing anything tonight.   
I replied with a simple 'yeah i think so', and proceeded to look at the group chat. Peaches had asked what people were doing, Juliet said they'd gotten the alc, Wilda said they'd be back in about an hour or so. While reading, and offhandedly nodding as a cue that I was listening to the conversation between Peaches and Elliot, which I definitely wasn't, my phone buzzed. It was a text from 'Maybe: George'. It just said 'yo'.

I bit my cheek, and clicked my phone to sleep, spinning it in my hand as I contemplated how long I'd wait to answer. Should I wait to answer?

"Peaches?" I said, and she looked at me, seeming upset that I'd interrupted her. "Dude, George texted me. What do I do?"   
"He what?" She exclaimed, now claiming the space that had appeared between Elliot and I as they two had been talking, her blonde curls bouncing as she did so. "Let me see, let me see."   
I opened the messages app, and tilted the phone her way. But she grabbed it from me, as Peaches had a tendency to do, and opened the message immediately.   
"Yo? That's it?"   
I shrugged. Elliot peered over her shoulder too, and I noted how quiet he'd gotten since she'd appeared. Maybe he was shy.

Or maybe he's stoned, another part of my brain said.

"Yeah, that's it. Do I reply?"

"Well, you've already opened the message." Elliot pointed out, and I groaned.   
"God, Peaches, why'd you open it. Now I have to respond!"   
"Well, you were going to respond regardless. Tell him how cute and lovely your friend Peaches is."   
"You have a thing for George?" Elliot asked Peaches directly. She caught his eye with an impish look.   
"Doesn't everyone?" She said innocently, and Elliot seemed to retreat back into himself. "Anyway, it's more of a status thing. Could you imagine the clout you'd get from fucking a Weasley twin?"

"I didn't know they were so popular." Elliot muttered. I glanced at him, giving an amused look. He seemed a little put out by the whole interaction.   
"They glowed up over the summer, it seems." I admitted.   
"So you do like Fred!" Peaches cried, and I rolled my eyes.   
"What's with you suddenly trying to push me towards Fred?"   
"Wait, you don't know?" Elliot asked, and I looked at him as Peaches made a shushing motion.   
"Know what?" I asked, looking between the two of them. Elliot gave Peaches a quizzical look before trying to continue, which Peaches stopped by slapping a hand over his mouth.   
"Know nothing! He's obviously just, so high." She said anxiously, with a nervous laugh. I looked at the two of them for a moment, before sort of forgetting what was going on.

"So are you going to reply to the text?" Elliot asked when he finally got Peaches's hand off his mouth.   
"Um, yeah I guess."

Peaches handed the phone back to me, and I typed out a simple 'yo' in return. The typing bubble popped up immediately. Peaches gasped in my ear.   
"He was waiting." She whispered dramatically. 

'Are you friends with ina?' was the next message.

Peaches and I groaned in unison.   
"What? What happened?" Elliot said, startled by our reaction.   
"Fucking Ina." Peaches was muttering, sinking back into the couch and crossing her arms, pouting childishly. It was cute. But I felt the same.   
"Who's Ina?" Elliot asked, looking between the two of us.   
"Ugh! Ina's this girl..." I looked around the common room, to make sure she wasn't around somewhere, then continued in a softer voice, leaning closer to Elliot, "-she's this Hufflepuff who's like 'sooooooo sweeeeeeet' to guys all the time, but a total bitch to any girls around her. But guys never fucking realize, because she's so cute and has huge tits and shit."  
"I hate her!" Peaches seethed, sliding down a little, "She's so skinny and pretty and blonde and annoying! I hate her!"   
"I thought you don't like hating on other women?" Elliot asked me pointedly, and I sighed, leaning back a little and raising to a normal volume.   
"Yeah, I don't, but I also don't appreciate when women purposefully put other women down to seem more 'chill' or 'attractive' to guys."   
"Pick me girls." Peaches supplied, and I nodded, pointing at her in agreement.   
"Yeah, yeah Ina's a pick me girl."

"So why would George Weasley be asking about her?" Elliot asked, and I shrugged, looking at Peaches for help again.   
"He's probably super into her. He probably thinks she's so cute and chill or some shit. I bet he met her like, once, and now is totally in love with her."   
I laughed a little, but Peaches's face remained angry, and I nudged her with my knee.   
"Okay, okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe he's asking for someone else. I'll just say no. Simple and easy."

'Not really' was how I replied. The bubble popped up again.

'Ok nvm' he said back.

"See? Easy." I waved the phone at Peaches. "Yeah, but why was he asking about her!' She cried, flopping her arms down dramatically. 

"Well, we can ask him tonight, can't we?"


	4. Holidays?

Getting ready with the girls was always fun. When I was younger, I wasn’t really into wearing feminine clothing as a weird sort of reaction to mourning my father, but as I got older I saw the appeal and even became infatuated with clothing the body. 

“Diana,” Peaches was saying, tugging at her skirt, “What do you think of this outfit?” 

I looked at her from where I was seated on the floor of her dorm, where we had all collected, and was doing my eyeliner in her floor length mirror. I contemplated the choices of pinks and whites she’d combined, scanning over the tight turtleneck sweater, simple pink skirt, white tights and…    
“Do you have shoes in a different color? Or maybe, socks?” I gestured to her white sneakers, “They sort of blend in with the tights.”    
She pouted and looked down at her shoes. Then taking out her wand, I watched as she muttered a spell, and the shoes became a matching pink to her skirt.    
“Yeah,” I said, nodding, “That’s way better.”    
Wilda, who’d been ready for a while in her big sweater and tight light jeans, was sipping on the firewhiskey lazily.    
“I can’t believe fucking Ina was invited. “ She spit out, and Juliet barked out a surprised laugh as she tried on a tight yellow cardigan, which stopped right below her ribcage, accentuating her soft curves.    
“I know right!” Peaches squealed as I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a pair of flattering high waisted jeans, and a loose cropped yellow crewneck, with a striped turtleneck underneath. I’d tried to do my eyeliner a little more dramatic than usual, but ended up smudging it away as Peaches and Wilda complained behind me.    
“Hey Juliet,” I said softly, “Be honest- do I look like a bee.”    
She let out another laugh, turning to look at me, her small arms folded and dainty hands tapping.    
“Kind of, I guess.” She said honestly. I huffed, moving to take the turtleneck off. 

“Noo, I liked your outfit!” Peaches cried suddenly as she saw what I was doing.    
“I look like a bee.” I whined back, and she surveyed me, and giggled.    
“Yeah but a cute bee.” Wilda added, scooting across the bed to pinch my cheeks. I made a face at her, and we all laughed before I motioned for the whiskey bottle, which she gave willingly.    
“Guys, careful, or we won’t have any left to give the Weasley’s.” Juliet chided. I groaned.    
“Man, fuck the Weasleys. They’ve been in my head and up my ass all fucking day. It’s so weird.”    
Peaches giggled.    
“They’ve been in your head?”    
“You’ve been thinking about them?”    
“Don’t you think Fred is kind of hotter than George?”    
Everyone turned to look at Juliet, and she shrugged innocently. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever thought of them as hot.” I muttered, going back to smear on some mascara. I left the turtleneck on. Better to be warm than attractive, I decided. Besides, we were watching movies. It wasn’t like a party or some shit. 

“What! How?” Peaches squealed. 

“Peaches, you’ve literally never talked about either one before today.” Wilda commented. Juliet’s brow furrowed.    
“No, don’t you remember how she had a crush on George in third year?”    
“Ooooooh, yeah, I do remember that.” Wilda conceded, gesturing that Peaches was allowed to carry on. She smiled and nodded a thank you.    
“I think George Weasley is absolutely divine.” She said properly, folding her hands behind her back. Juliet and Wilda giggled at her.    
“Weird, considering how you were behaving towards Elliot earlier today.”    
Peaches’s face blushed scarlet.    
“Who’s Elliot?” Wilda asked in a sing-song way, looking between the two of us.    
“Diana’s sexy Slytherin friend.” Peaches muttered, crossing her arms, “But that’s just how he described himself.”    
“He literally said like five words the whole time you were there.” I said with a jab in her direction.    
“Yeah he said,” And she began to count the words on her fingers, “Hello, I, am, Diana’s, sexy, ah, bugger, that’s more than five.”    
We all broke out into a fit of giggles as Peaches proceeded to try and defend herself. 

She continued on about George as we made our way to the Fat Lady. 

“It’s the way he dresses, I think. Plus his eyes- they’re so kind.” She swooned as we got close, dropping to a low whisper. Juliet was tapping away at her phone, obviously not paying attention while Wilda nodded along with what Peaches was saying.    
“I do like the way he dresses,” She mused, “With the rings and tucked tee shirts and everything.”    
“And when he wears hoodies.” Juliet added suddenly.    
“You just always like boys in hoodies.” I contested as we got to the painting, who frowned down at us impatiently. I looked at my phone, and went to send a message to George.    
  


‘We have ur whiskey. Pls let us in.’

It took a couple of moments for him to respond, but he just sent a thumbs up emoji, and we all jumped as one of the curtains to the right of the stairs was pulled back, and the Weasley twins stood there grinning.    
“Why the fuck are you all dressed in your house colors?” Fred spoke first as we all walked over to them.    
“I’m not!” Peaches protested, tugging on her pink skirt. George nodded in agreement.    
“She’s not.” He echoed, gesturing Peaches’s way. She beamed at him, and he winked before ushering us all inside. 

I’d been to the Gryffindor common room one time, but I’d been pretty drunk and pretty occupied, so reentering it sober was definitely a different experience. Warm, filled with golds and reds, and people yelling, jeering, pushing over one another, it was quite different from the comfortable and soothing Hufflepuff common room.   
They’d set a projector set over the fireplace, which was crackling happily. Kids were piled on the couches, on the floor, pillows and blankets had made some tables into lounging areas, and long boys were draped on top of them. Everyone was talking at once, but the noise wasn’t overwhelming, and as the Weasleys led us to where their friends were seated, in a corner, by the girl’s dorm door, I found myself thinking back to my conversation with the Sorting Hat.   
  


“You’re a Gryffindor.” The hat had told me bluntly after being placed on my head, “But you wouldn’t do well there.” 

Now I understood what it had meant. As much as I liked jeering and messing around with my friends, I needed the calm of Hufflepuff as my homebase. Not this… 

“Mess.” Juliet uttered, wrinkling her nose at the crowd. The Weasleys laughed at her, and patted the ground around where they had just sat. My friends pushed me out of the way and seated themselves how they wanted, and looked up at me expectantly. I realized too late that they’d only left a pretty obvious space in between Fred and the wall. I gave him an awkward smile, and gestured for George to scootch a little so I could climb behind him, sitting straight and cross legged.    
“Where’s our payment?” George drawled, holding out a half drunken cup of hot chocolate. Wilda whipped the bottle from her tote bag, and poured accordingly. Several others in the group had cups as well, and soon the bottle was about three thirds gone.    
“Where’d it all go?” Peaches said sadly as it was passed to her, before taking a heavy swig. I laughed at her as she passed it back to me, and noticed Fred looking at me as I followed suit.    
“Don’t want to try the hot chocolate?” He asked, holding the cup out to me as I moved around him to pass the bottle to Juliet.    
“Ah- nah. I’m lactose intolerant, actually. So, I literally can’t try that.”    
“Lactose intolerant?” Fred echoed. I felt my brow furrow in confusion.    
“Yeah like, I can’t digest dairy?”    
“No, I know- I just- uh, I mean, you drink coffee all the time.”   
“Black coffee.” Peaches butted in, grinning cheekily. I could tell from the flush on her cheeks that we should probably cut her off soon. Whiskey drunk Peaches was always an adventure. 

“Yeah, no milk.” I made an ‘x’ with my arms, and Fred let out an amused huff.    
“I just didn’t realize…” He trailed off, and I waited for a beat to see if he’d finish.    
“That I was… Quirky and different?” I said jokingly. He made an amused, but confused face, and I giggled at my own joke.    
“Diana’s just… Not like other girls.” Peaches reiterated.    
“I’m just so… Individual and unique.”    
“Wait- speaking of, George, why the fuck were asking about Ina?” Peaches squeaked, pushing the boy’s shoulder to get his attention.    
“What?” He said intelligently, looking between the three of us.    
“Ina. Why were you asking about her.” Peaches demanded. I sighed heavily, and made grabby hands at Wilda for the whiskey bottle again.    
“Who’s Ina?” Fred whispered lowly into my ear, and I was surprised at how much he had to bend in order to do so. I was also surprised at the tingle it sent down my spine.    
“She’s a fifth year hufflepuff.” I explained as Peaches and George went back and forth between us, “George had texted me about her earlier today.”   
“And why would Peaches care?”    
“Because we hate her.” I dropped my voice to a hissing whisper, “But don’t tell anyone that. Wouldn’t want to ruin our wonderful reputation.”    
Fred looked at me in the face this time, and I blushed at how close we’d gotten. The lights were starting to dim, and people were starting to be shushed.    
“What sort of reputation would that be?” Fred was saying quietly, and the people around us were quieting down, and suddenly it felt like it was only the two of us that really mattered.    
“Um,” I let out, then biting my lips together and frowning, “-that we love everyone, I guess.”    
“Hufflepuffs can hate people?”    
“Oh yeah.” We were speaking so quietly now I was sure only us and the wall could hear. The movie was starting, and the lights danced across Fred’s face. I’d never noticed how many laugh lines he had. How many freckles. What a nice brown his eyes were. 

“Sounds fake.” He was so close now I practically felt the words more than heard them, a whispered breath on my face. And then he drew away, and I was left reeling in my whiskey muddled brain.    
What the fuuuuck just happened.    
I gave him an awkward chuckle before turning to look at the screen and pulling a face to myself, covering it from Fred with a hand.    
What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.    
Why’d he get so close? What the fuck was that?

I concentrated on steadying my breath, and I noticed in front of me that George had moved away from Peaches. She was sitting with her arms crossed and back straight. That wasn’t a good sign. I couldn’t even register what was playing on the screen, and suddenly the room felt very small, and my throat felt very tight. 

I took my phone out and spun it in a circle for a little while, focusing on not letting it slip, letting my breathing return to normal, sipping the whiskey thoughtlessly every now and then. It went down easy, the cinnomanny, fiery liquid.    
I’m actually probably drunk already, I figured, glancing around to see if anyone else wanted to take it from me. Juliet made a motion to pass it to her, and I did, ignoring Fred’s prominent glances and looks. I kept my eyes low for a while longer, before I felt a tap on my leg. I looked up to see George’s eyes watching me carefully.    
“You wanna get some air?” He asked lightly, and I looked between him and Fred, who was pretending to ignore the interaction, staring at the movie screen. I looked back at George and nodded with a guilty expression, and he snickered a little before maneuvering to get us both out, his long body allowing a lot of room once we’d stood.    
“Bathroom.” He hissed at the quizzical looks we got, and I grabbed onto the bottom of his shirt tightly as he led me out of the common room and into what I assumed would be a passageway to a bathroom. But then it opened up into an empty room, and the window was cracked open a little bit, and I took in a deep breath, feeling the alcohol in my system swimming up to my brain, making everything sharp and fuzzy at the same time. 

“I fucking hate Christmas movies.” George said matter-of-factly from behind me, and I laughed loudly, clapping a hand over my mouth in surprise. He laughed along with me, and we both stood there, giggling for a moment.    
“I fucking hate Christmas movies too.” I finally got out, which made him laugh harder, and soon we were both in tears because of nothing.    
“They’re so stupid. Chipper and full of love and merriment. Nothing but a load of bollocks.” George was whining after our laughter died down. 

“Right? I always fall asleep when Peaches makes me watch any of those stupid ass rom-com type things. I just can’t pay attention.”    
“So boring.”    
“Totally.”    
George sat on the steps leading into the room, and gestured for me to do the same.    
“What sort of movies do you like, then?” I asked after the silence got a little too uncomfortable to deal with. Wind whistled through the window, sending in a slight chill, and George shivered in his light tee shirt and jeans.    
“I dunno, artsy ones I guess. Fred says I have the movie taste of an old man.”    
“Huh,” I mused aloud, “I always figured you guys would be into comedies or slapstick or some shit.”    
“Oh Fred does. That’s all he ever watches. He could probably recite full episodes of Always Sunny if you asked him to. But I just- I dunno. I liked them as a kid, but I guess I kind of like taking a break from comedy sometimes.”    
I looked at him, and he pointedly kept his gaze on the window. His hair had gotten longer over the past couple of months, I noted, and it was grazing his shoulders now. His hair must grow faster than Fred’s, I figured. 

“What about you?” 

“Huh?”    
“What movies do you like?”    
“Oh,” I shrugged, “-um, okay, I really really like war movies.”    
“War movies?”    
“Yeah like, like Saving Private Ryan? Or um, Full Metal Jacket? I also watch a lot of anime.” I laughed and awkwardly scratched at my chin, “Guess that’s the Hufflepuff in me though.”   
“Anime?”    
“Cute… Quiet, easy things?”    
He hummed thoughtfully, resting his arms over his legs, which were longer than I had initially thought. I suddenly realized his thigh was probably the length of my whole torso. My head started to try and do the comparison, drawing out the figures in my mind before I realized he was talking again.    
“I was asking if you knew Ina because I saw her crying in the hall today.”    
“Guess there were a lot of Hufflepuffs crying in the halls today.” I joked, and he glanced at me thoughtfully, and the smile waned from my face. “Look, Hufflepuffs cry all the time and-”    
“You guys shouldn’t be so hard on her, you know. She’s a nice girl.”    
I huffed at the interruption, and the contents that came with it.    
“You don’t know her.” I sputtered, alcohol making the words mangle together as I struggled to get them out, “She really isn’t… She really isn’t nice.”    
He cocked a brow at me, and I waved my hands desperately, trying to find the words to explain it.    
“Like, she’s going to be nice to you, right, because you’re like, a hot guy or whatever, but when it comes to everyone else, she’s just like, a totally condescending bitch, you know?” 

There was a beat between us before a grin crept onto George’s face.    
“What?” I asked, exasperated.    
“You called me hot.”    
I felt my face grow hot, but I wrote it off to the whiskey.    
“I mean, you’re, you know, you guys- it’s the general consensus, or whatever!” 

“You think Fred’s hot.”    
“What the fuck is with everyone and talking about Fred today! It feels like the whole fucking day people have been attacking me about Fred. He’s fine! Seems like a great guy! I’ve literally never thought of the guy more than I have had to today!” I let out a loud breath after my rant, but George was still grinning down at me, laughing a little.    
“You’ve thought a lot about Fred?”    
“Jeeeeeeesus.” I drawled, standing up in frustration as George burst into a fit of giggles. “You know- I really cannot with you two..” I trailed off as my phone buzzed with a text, and I looked down, realizing it was still in my hand. 

There was a dm from Fred on Instagram, asking if everything was okay.    
And then a text from Alice: 

‘Ginny offered for us to go to the weasley house for the holidays’ 

My phone buzzed a couple of more times: 

‘Moms ok with it’

‘She talked to ms weasley today’

‘Pls say ull go i dont want to go alone’ 

‘Also answer ur phone when mom calls wtf’ 


	5. The Love Club

“Christmas at the Weasley’s?” Peaches screeched.    
It was Sunday morning, and my three friends had collected in my dorm room despite my protest, and to the chagrin of Aurora, who was trying to study in her bed, as she often did. 

“Maybe.” I hissed, dragged my covers over my head.    
“No, no.” Wilda chided, pulling them back down to reveal my pouting face. “You’re going to tell us what happened when you were alone with George.”   
Peaches’s face grew cold as I glanced at her apologetically.    
“Literally nothing. We just talked about our mutual dislike of Christmas movies. He said we were too hard on Ina- obviously- and then seemed excited at the prospect of Alice and I staying with them.”    
“I don’t get why he likes her.” Peaches muttered, slouching against my headboard.    
“Tits.” Juliet said simply, tucking her legs under her as she sat across from us, tapping at her phone.    
“Who’re you texting?” Wilda muttered from her side, peering over her shoulder at the screen. Juliet snapped the phone back, not meeting any of our eyes.    
“Nobody.” She said anxiously.    
We all stared at her blankly.    
“No one?” Peaches echoed, and Juliet nodded. Then Wilda dove for the girl’s phone, and squeals and yells were emitted from the three of us. We all attacked her, Peaches tickling her armpit as I grabbed her torso so she couldn’t wiggle away from us, Wilda gripped her wrist and wrenched the phone from her hand.    
“Stop! It’s embarrassing!” Juliet cried as we huddled around her stolen phone, opening up the recent texts. 

“Wait-” I muttered as Wilda and Peaches pushed and shoved to get a better look. The name at the top of the screen wasn’t as interesting as the group chat I’d noticed under it.   
“What’s this?” I said, tapping on it. Wilda noticed first, and tipped the screen away from me.    
“It’s nothing.” She said with a nervous giggle. I looked between the three of them, who all seemed to look guilty of something.    
“Are you guys in a group chat without me?” I asked, feeling my stomach flip a little.    
“No!” Peaches exclaimed as Juliet said “Not exactly!” At the same time. A ringing began in my ears.    
“It’s not just us.” Wilda said calmly, “It’s um- it’s for a project.”   
“You guys don’t have any classes together.” I felt small. I’d thought they were my friends.    
“It’s not bad!” Peaches cried desperately, “They asked for you to not be in it!”   
“Who did?” I tried to keep my voice and expression light and easy, but I suddenly really, really wanted them to leave.    
“Nobody, it doesn’t matter.” Juliet hissed, elbowing Peaches, who made a defensive sound.    
“Whatever.” I laughed, feeling my chest tighten, “It doesn’t matter.”    
“The twins.” Wilda said defeatedly, and we all looked at her, Juliet hissing her name chidingly. “What? She’s going to find out eventually.”    
I felt the blood drain from my face. I was about to spend two weeks with a couple of guys who specifically asked for me to be excluded from a group chat?    
“That’s kind of fucked up.” I tried to laugh again, but it sounded more like I was about to cry.    
“It’s seriously not why you think!” Peaches attempted again, reaching out to comfort me. I huffed and gave her a tight smile.    
“It’s okay Peaches, really.”    
“Diana, we can explai-” Juliet was saying, but I cut her off.    
“You know, you guys, I’m really not feeling that great. Brown liquor hangover, you know?”    
“You want us to leave?” Peaches’s voice sounded small, and their expressions were guilt ridden. I felt something bubbling up in my stomach, but I couldn’t tell if it was anger or disappointment. I fought it down with apathy.    
“Yeah.” I said, sounding a little sterner than I’d intended, “Um- yeah, I think maybe it’d be a good idea if you guys left.”    
“Seriously, Diana-” Wilda tried this time, but she stopped when I gave her a tight look.    
“I kind of want to be alone, guys.” My voice was hard, and they looked surprised at it.    
“We’ll explain when you’re willing to listen, then.” Juliet sounded angry as she stood up.    
“We can’t just let her think it’s bad, though.” Peaches’s sweet voice sounded close to tears, and I felt a little guilty, but my mind was made up. I just wanted to be alone. Just be by myself. I kept my eyes on my blanket, feeling stubborn.    
“Fuck, we were doing so well.” Wilda muttered as they left the room.    
“Why’d you have to open my messages.” Juliet hissed, snatching her phone back and tucking it into her pocket.    
“I feel really bad.” Peaches’s whisper carried through the hall as the door closed. 

I felt Aurora’s gaze on me, but I kept mine low.    
“Don’t.” I said quietly. She shifted to look back at her book.    
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” She said softly, but I knew she was happy to have her silence back. I slid low under my blanket, pulling it up to my ears.    
What the hell? I thought the Weasley twins were warming up to me. Now they had a secret group chat with my friends?    
I thought back to my interactions. Was I too mean? Peaches had told me once I could be a little stand offish- that boys were sometimes scared of me. Did they feel like I ruined the vibe? Maybe I was too negative. I replayed the conversation from the great hall yesterday. Was that why they’d looked at one another? But why wouldn’t they have just gone to the forest with my friends- Juliet had told them they’d be willing to go without me. And why, then, had they forced me to sit next to Fred last night? Had they just wanted to push me out of the conversation? It had kind of worked, I guess, thinking back to the end of last night. But my memories were fuzzy due to the dark liquor and having been tired. Maybe I’d said something annoying. And how long had they even had the group chat? Was it only from last night? Had they made it while I was outside with George?

Is that why George had taken me outside? I thought we’d had a nice time. 

I rolled over and stared at the ceiling. I was angry, I decided, but not at my friends. I was angry at myself for not noticing. Angry that I’d been stupid enough to be douped like this. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I didn’t want to stop hanging out with them. They were the closest things I had to best friends. I pulled the blanket over my face.    
I knew I wasn’t going to stop hanging out with them. I literally couldn’t. But it still made me feel further apart from them than I had felt in a long time.   
I felt my phone buzz from underneath my back, which surprised me, as I hadn’t realized the phone was there. I slipped it out and glanced at the screen.    
There was a message from Cedric, asking if I was going to breakfast. 

Part of me didn’t really want to see anyone right now, but the other part really didn’t want to be alone. I peered up at Aurora, who caught my eye and glanced down quickly.    
“Do you mind if I have a boy in here?” I hissed loudly. She looked up again and studied the situation for a moment, before heaving a great sigh and shaking her head no. 

‘Im so hungover :(‘ I tapped out. Then paused, thinking about how to continue: 

‘Bedridden x~x’

‘Can u bring me some nourishment plssssssss <3 <3 <3’

The little typing bubble popped up for a second, then disappeared. I watched it anxiously. Cedric wasn’t really one to break rules, like sneaking into the girl’s dorms. He was usually the one kicking the boys out of them. I knew it was a shot in the dark, but I really didn’t want to get out of bed, and I really wanted to see if he would do it. 

‘To your room?’ he replied. 

I simply sent back the puppy eye emoji. A full minute passed of the bubble popping up and disappearing. I could feel his anxiety through the screen, but I sent a silent prayer that he’d grow some balls for once. 

‘Just dont tell anyone’ He finally replied. I snickered silently. 

‘What do u want?’ 

‘Bless u bby boi’ I replied instantly. 

‘Coffee & a blueberry muffin pls pls pls pl s pls’ 

He reacted to the message with a thumbs up, and I rolled out from under the covers, checking my hair in the mirror and reaching for my deodorant. I glanced down at myself, wondering if I should put on some pants.    
  
“Is he a hufflepuff?” Aurora’s quiet voice surprised me, and I glanced at her as I was shuffling through my trunk, trying to find a pair of pj shorts.    
“Yeah uh- do you know Cedric?”    
“Diggory?” She sat up suddenly, and I gave her a curious look as I pulled out a pair of men’s boxers- the ones with stars on them, that Alice had bought me for my sixteenth birthday.    
“Um- yeah. Duh. Is there another Cedric?” I said absently as I pulled the shorts on. 

“Cedric Diggory is sneaking into the girl’s dorm.” Aurora said bluntly. I looked at her with an incredulous look.    
“Yeah Sherlock, nice deduction skills.”    
“Isn’t he a prefect? He could get in serious trouble for that.”    
I rolled my eyes, bouncing back onto my bed.    
“And who would report him, exactly? Himself? Besides, it’s not like we’re gonna fuck. You’re still here.”    
Her face turned bright red, and I was surprised to see something more than shock dance across her face.    
“Yeah- well- he- how- since when are you even friends with Cedric Diggory?” 

“Heh?” I said with an exaggerated expression, “We’ve been chillin’ since day one, babes.”    
She huffed, and I was kind of taken aback. I’d never seen Aurora so worked up before. 

“It’s just- well- I didn’t realize he kept company with the likes of-” She cut herself off as I felt my face melt from surprise to disbelief. There was a moment of heavy silence between us, before she shook her head and curled up into herself. Her face was bright red, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.    
“Are you guys, um, dating?” She said very quietly, and it dawned on me that Cedric’s popularity might have touched Aurora the way it had a lot of girls in our year. I let out a little laugh, which startled her into looking back up at me.    
“No, no, we’re honestly just friends.” I said as I went back to pulling up my shorts, and sniffing my shirt. I undid my messy bun and leaned over to shake my hair out, gathering it once again, and tying it into a high ponytail. I surveyed myself in the mirror one again, before shrugging and getting back into bed.    
Aurora was still watching me when I pulled up my phone, and I looked back at her.    
“You’re not even going to put on, I don’t know, some perfume or something?”    
I made a face.    
“No? Why would I waste perfume on Cedric?”    
Her face flushed again, and she shrugged, mumbling something I couldn’t hear, and picking her book up again.    
It was silent for a moment, before she got up from her bed suddenly. I looked up at her with an amused expression as she looked at herself in her own mirror, patting down her mousy brown hair and thumbing the bottom of her form fitting tank top. 

“Do you like Cedric or something?” I let out with a little laugh, and Aurora froze, before crossing her arms and getting back into her bed, flipping the blanket to cover herself up to her neck.    
“No.” She said weakly, and it made me laugh louder. She threw a pillow at me, and I caught it in one hand.    
“Oh my god, you have a crush on Cedric.”    
“I do not.” Aurora said weakly, sitting up and moving to hug her legs. “I just think he’s um… Really cool. And smart. And he’s so funny..” She trailed off, curling a stray piece of hair around her finger. Aurora was pretty, in a plain, quiet way with her long straight nose and splattering of freckles. But I’d never really thought about what her social life would be like- much less consider the fact that she may have some sort of interest in anyone I knew.    
“Do you guys talk or anything?” I asked lightly, flipping my phone, waiting for Cedric’s text. 

Aurora’s face blushed again, and she shook her head slightly.    
“So how do you know you like him?”    
“We have Potions and Arithmancy together. And he- he sits in front of me in Arithmancy. I..” She trailed off, hiding her face in her hands, “I listen to him talk to his friends a lot.”    
I giggled hard at that one.    
“But you’ve never even talked to him?”    
She shook her head again, from behind her hands. My heart went out to her, a little, and I felt the pain of what had transpired between my friends ebb a little in response. It was like being reminded that I should be happy to be with the friends I was, and be able to talk to the people that interested me. My phone buzzed.    
“Is that him?” Aurora’s voice was higher than usual, and she dropped her hands to clutch the edge of her blanket.   
“Um-” I glanced at the screen, reading that Cedric was on his way, and nodded before looking back up at her. “Dude, you look like you’re going to faint.”   
“I feel like it too.” Aurora said faintly, and a laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it.    
“Like, he’s literally just a guy. He’s pretty normal. Actually- nah he’s like, he can get kind of chaotic when he lets loose. But- he’s nice. You should try talking to him.”    
“Oh my god-” She brought the blanket up to hide her face this time, “I can’t believe Cedric Diggory is going to be in my bedroom, but to see you.”    
Okay, that hurt this time. Like, before when she’d said something in that tone I’d kind of let it slide, but this time,    
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said in a stronger tone. She didn’t say anything for a moment. “Hey.” I threw the pillow back at her, and she squeaked as it hit her, diving so that she was laying on the bed now. “Aurora, what do you mean? He’s literally my friend.”    
At that, a soft knock came from the door, and Aurora hid under her covers further.    
“He’s not going to talk to you if you look like you’re sleeping.” I said in a teasing tone, picking the pillow up from where it’d landed and tossing it at Aurora again. She moved so she was hugging it to her, but kept her back to the door.    
“Suit yourself.” I muttered as I went to open it. Behind the door stood Cedric, looking nervous and a little disheveled, holding a cup of coffee and a wad of napkins.    
“I wasn’t sure if I’d gotten the room right.” He whispered, letting out a big sigh of relief before pushing into the room quickly. I held my hands up as he pushed me out of the way, closing the door with a push. It clicked shut, and Cedric stood there awkwardly. I looked at the objects in his hands expectantly.    
“Oh-” He said with a little jump, as if he’d been so nervous he’d forgotten he had them, “These are for you.”   
I gave him a great, grateful grin as I took the coffee and wad of napkins, which I suspected had a muffin inside.    
“I didn’t know how to carry it without raising suspicion- the coffee already was cause for alarm, I guess.” He offered as explanation as I went back to my bed, folding my legs as I sat, and balancing the coffee between them so that I could unwrap the wad.    
He followed me a little, before hovering between my bed and my roommate’s. He hadn’t even noticed Aurora in the third bed yet, and she had yet to move.    
“Thanks man, you’re literally a life saver.” I practically moaned as I brought a piece of the muffin to my mouth, relishing in the sweetness. “Literally sit anywhere, by the way. Lily’s like, never here.” I gestured to the bed he was standing in front of, and Cedric nodded curtly, dropping to sit on the edge stiffly. I laughed at him a little. “Bro, what the fuck, relax.” I said around a second mouthful of muffin, taking a sip of the coffee.   
“Oh-” He fumbled in his pockets, “I didn’t know if you liked cream in or not, so I grabbed some from the hall..” He trailed off as he stood to leave them on my desk, next to my bed, before hurrying back to sit on Lilly’s bed.    
It was then that Aurora shifted, and Cedric jumped so hard he practically fell off the bed.    
I burst into laughter.    
“There’s someone else here.” Cedric hissed, and I looked at him incredulously.    
“Yeah, Cedric, why wouldn’t there be?” 

“Diana, I’m a- I’m a prefect! People can’t see me sneaking around like this!” He hissed at me, and I giggled at him.    
“Oh come on, it’s not like we’re doing anything bad. We’re just hanging out, right?”    
He went red from his neck to his forehead then, and sat back a little, looking at the floor.    
“Yeah, um, yeah of course.”    
I raised a brow at his reaction, but then gestured to the lump under the blanket in the corner.    
“That’s Aurora, my roommate. I think you guys might have classes together or something.”    
Cedric glanced over, and Aurora raised her eyes above her blanket.    
“Hi.” She let out weakly, and he offered an awkward wave. I looked between the two of them before rolling my eyes.    
“Cedric, seriously, chill. She’s not going to snitch to anyone- right, Aurora?” I finished sweetly, giving the girl a threatening smile. She nodded, still holding her nose beneath her sheet. I stuffed some more muffin in my mouth.    
“So, well, how did last night go?” Cedric said after a moment of silence. 

“Ugh.” I let out, pushing away a stray strand of hair, “Last night was fine. Like, well, okay, I thought it was fine. Everyone made me sit next to Fred, right, which I thought was kinda sus, and then he-” I let out a frustrated noise, “He kept getting really close and all up in my face and I couldn’t figure out what his deal was-”    
“Like, he was fighting with you?” Cedric interrupted, and I shook my head. 

“No, dude, like flirty type shit. But then suddenly he’d just pull away or something- I don’t know, it was weird okay. And then, today right, the girls were in here with me-”    
“The girls?”    
“Juliet, Wilda and Peaches? Man, they’re like the only people I hang out with at this point.”    
He nodded, and gestured for me to go on.    
“As I was saying,” I drawled, “The girls were here today, and Juliet kept texting some boy, so then Wilda started bugging her about who it was but she wouldn’t tell us, so then obviously we got her phone away from her to check her texts and I-” I took a deep breath, and shoved some more muffin in my mouth, a couple of crumbs falling as I continued, “-I saw in her phone that there was a group chat called ‘the love club’ that I’d never seen before, and when I tried to look at it Wilda got all weird, which meant that she was also in it, and then Peaches started getting weird-”   
“So they were all in it?” Cedric was seeming to relax a little now, sitting forward and resting his arms on his knees.    
“Yeah! They were all in it! And then when I tried to say something about it they got all defensive and told me that the Weasleys were the ones who had asked me to not be in it!”    
“Fred and George Weasley?”    
“Duh, which other ones are even relevant?”    
“Well, Ron’s pretty cool actually-”    
“Whatever, anyway,” I flung my ponytail over my shoulder dramatically, “The worst part, Cedric, is that their fucking mom just offered to my mom to have us be with them for the holidays. So now I’m going to be staying in their fucking house- and they dislike me so much that they asked my best friends to be in a group chat without me.” I punctuated my rant with a long sip from my coffee, holding it under my nose for a moment longer, relishing in the smell.    
Cedric was silent for a moment.    
“That’s kind of mean on your friends’ part.” It was Aurora who’d spoken this time, and we looked at her. She’d sat up by this point, but was still clutching the blanket tightly, and wasn’t looking our way.    
“Yeah, why would your friends agree to be in such a group chat?” Cedric added with a slight nod. I sighed.    
“I don’t know- I know it sounds bad, but maybe they were excited for the attention. I know I would be.”    
“You’d exclude your own friends for attention from a boy?” Cedric’s tone was condescending, and I rolled my eyes.    
“Okay, you make it sound so much worse than it actually is. Can we just please focus on the point here!”    
“Which is?”    
“That I’m going to have to spend the holidays with two people who literally don’t like me!”    
“Diana, there’s going to be about eight people in that house- excluding your family, of course, and assuming Charlie doesn’t come, which he actually usually doesn’t- I’m sure that two of them not wanting to hang out with you won’t be very noticeable.”    
I huffed, tracing the lip of my mug with my thumb.    
“But why don’t they want to hang out with me?” I muttered. 

“Yeah- I don’t know, that sounds a little unbelievable to me. I mean, they seemed happy enough to include you on Friday.”    
“I know right! I don’t get what might have changed! Maybe I said something stupid last night, like maybe I was annoying or something- I know I can get like, pretty obnoxious when I drink, and-”    
“I don’t think you’re obnoxious when you drink,” There was something in Cedric’s voice that made me pause mid sentence, glancing at him curiously. His face was serious, and it made my stomach feel a little queasy. I went to shove some more muffin into my mouth.    
“Whatever, well, maybe they do.” I muttered angrily through the food. The muffin was almost gone. 

“We’re going to be at the Weasley’s Christmas party.” Cedric said offhandedly. 

I glanced at him.    
“Christmas party?”    
“Well, yeah, their annual Christmas party.”    
I swallowed hard.   
“They have an annual Christmas party?”   
Cedric frowned, his face furrowing. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’d assumed you guys were close if they were inviting your family to stay for the holidays- although, I guess I’ve never seen you there, which would make sense, but so, are you new friends to the family, or-” He trailed off, and my chest felt tight. My muffin suddenly seemed less appetizing, and I carefully wrapped the little bit of it back up, placing it on my nightstand before hugging my coffee cup to my chest. 

“Ginny and my sister became pretty good friends this year- I think my mom just wants an excuse to not have to celebrate Christmas at her dad’s, and Ginny’s mom was happy to comply.”    
Cedric hummed, nodding a little.    
“That does sound like Molly.” He said warmly.    
“So you- you guys are like, family friends?”    
Cedric nodded.    
“Our dads are friends. We’ve been on a couple of trips together- even got to watch the Quidditch World cup together last year, which was pretty awesome.” His face lit up at the memory, and I smiled at him tightly. 

“But so, you’ll be there, at least for the party.”   
“At least for the party.” He said reassuringly, and the knot that had tied itself in my chest loosened just a bit. 


	6. Hang Out

We had three more days of class before break began. 

I woke up with a start, grabbing at my phone and checking the time. The screen told me I’d slept a good half hour into my Charms class. 

“God fuckin-” I hissed in surprise, sitting up quickly and shoving hair out of my face. The room was empty, and grey, and cold. I groaned, and rubbed my eyes, before stretching lazily. The damage was already done, I figured. By the time I was up and ready to go, Charms would be nearly over. And I hadn’t finished the homework, anyway. Part of me wanted to just snuggle up and go back to sleep, the warmth of my covers inviting. But I knew if I laid back down I’d end up never getting out of bed, and miss the whole day of classes.    
So I begrudgingly stood up, twisting my back and cracking it a little before heading to my trunk of clothes. I picked out a pair of soft wool black pants, which were technically part of the boys’ uniform, but none of the teachers really said anything. They were loose on me, and pulled up to my waist, so I stuffed my dress shirt in haphazardly, belting the pants tightly. I had one tie, and it was always tied, because I had no idea how to tie a tie, and I looped it around my neck loosely, not bothering to tighten it much as I threw on a mustard yellow sweater over it, fingering a hole that was starting to wear in the right sleeve. 

I examined myself in the mirror. The oversized clothes sort of dwarfed me, but I liked the way it looked. I blew a piece of hair out of my face, leaning close and examining a tender spot on my chin where a pimple was starting to appear. I picked at it, then shook my head, standing back up and grabbing my bag, shuffling through it to make sure everything I needed for my next class was there. 

The hallways were usually quiet in the mornings. Kids who had free periods wouldn’t be up yet, and the sports kids hadn’t returned from morning practice. I walked slowly, as I didn’t really have anywhere to be yet, music blasting in my ears and keeping my gaze low, practically watching my feet as I walked.    
I jumped when another pair of feet stepped in front of mine, and I narrowly missed colliding with a very tall person head first.    
“Sorry.” I muttered thoughtlessly as I went to keep walking, but a tap on my shoulder made me stop and look up at the person’s face.    
It was Fred, I deduced, after counting his earrings. I gave him a little wave, chest heavy with the idea of him not liking me, and once again, turned to continue walking. This time he grabbed my wrist, and I looked at it stupidly before tugging an earbud out, registering that he was saying something.    
“What’s up?” I said cooly, careful to keep my tone even. 

He seemed to retract a little, quickly releasing my wrist and tucking his hands into his pockets. His shoulders crept up a little, and he glanced to the side. The gesture looked almost… Shy. 

“I was asking where you’re going?” He said softly. 

“Uh-” I couldn’t think of an answer. “Well, I’m supposed to be in Charms, but I guess I slept through my alarm..” I trailed off, scratching at the back of my head with a nervous laugh. We stood there for an awkward second.    
“It was cool hanging out with you the other night.” He said quickly, seeming to try and regain some of his usual cockiness. I offered him an awkward expression.    
“Yeah, totally.” I said back lamely. 

The pause hung heavy between us. I kicked the ground a little, and he hung back slightly, putting more weight into his heels.

“I heard you’re going-” He said at the same time that I decided to ask, “Wait, where’s Geor-”   
We both stopped and then tried to offer for the other to speak. It ended with awkward laughs.    
“Seriously, you first.” I insisted, and he nodded.    
“Um, I heard that you’re going to come hang out for the holidays.”    
“Ah- yeah. With my sister and mom. I hope that isn’t like.. Weird.”    
“Why would it be weird?”    
“Well, I dunno, I guess we aren’t really…. Friends. Or close. Or whatever.” I mumbled the last bit, tucking a piece of hair into my mouth as I spoke. He looked surprised.    
“We aren’t friends?” His tone was hard to read. 

“Well, I don’t know, would you call us friends?”    
“Yeah?”    
I hummed thoughtfully. His face contorted into a forced smirk.    
“What, were you hoping for something more, Sterling?” 

I rolled my eyes, and his expression faltered.    
“No dude, I just mean we don’t really hang out or anything. I mean, I’ve seen more of you these past couple days than I have in the last like, year.”    
“I guess you’ve got a point. You gotta admit though, it’s a nice thought, you and me?” His voice was wavering but he shot me one of his infamous winks, and the whole scene was undeniably cute.    
I let out a surprised laugh.    
“Fred Weasley, in a relationship? Unheard of.” I shook my head. A strange expression crossed Fred’s face before lighting up again with his usual grin.    
“It offends me that you think I’m so predictable.” He retorted.    
“Predictable? More like unattainable.” I said, mimicking his wink, which seemed to take him aback. His face flushed obviously, and I felt a little embarrassed. Maybe I’d taken it too far. Maybe this was why they didn’t want me in their group chat. He recovered quickly. 

“Unattainable?” Fred grinned wide, “I like that. Flattered, even.”    
It was my turn to blush, and I chewed on my hair again.    
“Hey, do you wanna hang out? I wasn’t planning on going to Potions because fuck that.” I was surprised at the question.    
“Hang out?” I said lamely. Students were starting to trickle into the hallways, first the sports kids, then the kids who probably had free periods.    
“Yeah. Just for one period, don’t worry. I have an essay due in Muggle Studies.”    
The chewing on my hair intensified, and I felt it crunching between my teeth. He watched with an amused, although slightly strained expression. Had he heard that I found out about the group chat? Did he feel bad or something? I stared at him, silent in thought, and watched a blush creep up his face one more, and he seemed to lose some of the little bravado he’d been able to muster up throughout the conversation.    
“Um- I mean, you can say no, it’s not like-” He mumbled, moving to push a hand through his hair, his shoulders creeping back up towards his ears.    
“Sure.” I said hurriedly before Fred could finish, and he looked up at me in surprise, and shocked me with an excited grin.    
“Really?”    
“Yeah- I can just get the notes from Peaches. It’s almost break so-” I shrugged, “Why not.” 

He just kept grinning at me, and I shuffled my feet, laughing slightly at the strangeness of the moment. 

“So… What’re we going to do?”    
“Oh!” Fred seemed to snap back to reality, and I couldn’t help the loud, surprised laugh that came out of me as he looked around dramatically, his shoulder bag swinging as he did so.    
“We could go to the library? Nobody ever looks for me there.” I suggested slyly, tugging on the straps of my bag.    
“Yes! Me neither.” He exclaimed, snapping finger guns at me, “What a perfect idea.”    
I giggled at his sudden energy as he turned to bound in the direction of the library, gesturing for me to join him. 

We sat near the restricted section, between the shelves all the way in the back. The librarians wouldn’t be coming around this area at this time in the day, we figured, as any kids who would want to use the restricted book were usually doing so afterclasses. Fred was sitting leaning up against the bookshelf, and I sat across from him, legs tucked so Fred could have his long ones pressed up against the other shelf. 

“You guys really shot up this summer, huh.” I mused as we placed ourselves this way, and Fred let out a strained sound.    
“Yeah, it was bloody painful. I have crazy stretch marks on my back.”   
“Really?” My voice sounded squeaky. I’d never thought about how their shooting up may have been a negative thing for the boys- I’d always just sort of assumed it had been in their best interest. Fred grinned at me.    
“Yeah, wanna see?” He said excitedly, going to pull up his shirt, and I giggled as I reached out to tug it back down.    
“Dude, you’re good. I believe you.” 

Fred let me tug his shirt back into place, but he was still grinning goofily. I scoffed at his expression.    
“What?” I said.    
“What what?” He said back.    
“Why’re you looking at me like that?”    
“Like what?”    
“Ugh.” I covered my face with my hands, and he laughed. I peeked at him through them.    
“Stop!” I whined.    
“I can’t stop if you don’t explain what I’m doing.”    
“Looking at me!”    
“But I like looking at you.”   
I groaned exaggeratedly, falling onto my side, and he kicked me, laughing.    
This was easy, it was easy being with him like this, and the groupchat thing had slipped to the back of my mind. Fred made me feel nice, which was a surprise.    
“Did you guys end up doing anything cool, you know, after we left the other night?”    
Fred looked upwards thoughtfully. 

“Not really. Angelina was pretty bladdered, and Katie and I ended up carrying her back to their dorm. Then I guess Katie, George and I hung out while Lee disappeared to do god knows what with that girl um- what was her name-..” He trailed off, and I felt something strange and foreign tangle itself in my stomach at the thought of other girls hanging out with the twins. I barely knew them, I told myself gently, there was no use getting jealous.    
“Are you guys good friends with um- Angelina and Katie?” I asked cautiously. 

“Well yeah, we went with them to the Halloween dance. And we’re all on the Quidditch team together, so it kind of makes us friends by default. But they’re a lot of fun.”    
“Oh, so are you guys like… Dating?”    
Fred laughed.    
“I guess there was a moment where I thought Angelina and I were going to, but it never ended up happening.”    
“Why not?”    
“Oh- well, I dunno. Just didn’t, I guess.”    
I hummed in thought.    
“How’d you and Judas end up dating?”    
I looked at him, considering how to answer.    
“He knew Wilda, from class. And then he kept asking to come hang out with us- everyone actually thought he was after Wilda, at first, but then later he confessed he’d been trying to hang out with me. I guess I uh- I dunno, intimidated him. Peaches says I can be intimidating to guys. Because of my, like, ‘hard demeanor’ or whatever? I think she was actually just calling me a bitch, now that I think of it, but I guess there’s some truth in that. But anyway, eventually he asked me out, and then we dated, and then Juliet found him making out with some Slytherin girl in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and so we broke up, but then we..”    
I felt like I was rambling, and I was, and I trailed off, glancing up at Fred’s face. He was just sitting, listening, still smiling. I felt my face grow hot, and my palms got sweaty, and I nervously started uming and hming until I sort of threw my hands up.    
“I forgot where I was going with that. But yeah, Judas. Whatever.”    
“That’s horrible.”   
The seriousness sounded odd in Fred’s voice, and I looked at him again. His eyes were hard, and it made me nervous. It also made my stomach do somersaults, and I couldn’t figure out which was worse. I laughed slightly.    
“Sorry, I’m a bad storytelling.”    
“No no,” He said quickly, shifting a little and sitting forward, “That’s not what I meant. I meant it’s horrible that he did that, with the Slytherin girl.”    
I chewed on my lip, shrugging.    
“I guess. I dunno, we were young. It feels sort of silly.”    
“I don’t think it’s silly.”    
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be like, a huge fuckboy or whatever?” I said in an accusingly teaseful tone. Fred’s ears turned red, and his shoulders crept up again.    
“N-..Well, I mean- that is to say-” He stuttered, leaning back again, seeming to get more flustered as he spoke.    
“Eloquent rebuttal, Weasley. But I fear the jury rules that the defendant is guilty as charged.” I smacked my knee playfully, and his face scrunched up in confused amusement, huffing some air out of his nose.    
“I think people just like making up stories. And I like to go along with them.”   
“Wait, hey, that reminds me- where’s George?” I looked around him as if George was hiding in his bag this whole time, or that he’d pop up from behind the bookcase. Fred cocked a brow. 

“Your best friend, you mean?” He teased, and I rolled my eyes, but smiling a little.    
“Yeah exactly, my best friend. I miss the man. Gotta give him his morning hug, you know how it be.”    
Fred shook his head.    
“I, unfortunately, do not know how it be.” He mimicked my American accent at the end, which was horrible, sending me into a fit of giggles. “He’s in class though.”    
I nodded slightly.    
“That checks out.”    
“What’s that supposed to mean?”    
“Well isn’t George like, the soft one?”   
“What?”   
“Like, he’s the rational one. Out of the two of you. I mean-” I blushed at his expression, getting embarrassed at exposing the gossip girls said behind the twins’ backs. “That’s just- like- that’s what the fanclub says, you know?”   
“Fanclub?”   
“I-” I covered my face with my hands, “I thought you guys already knew about this stuff.”   
“I didn’t know we had a fanclub.” He said it so gleefully.    
“I don’t mean an actual fanclub, stupid, I just mean like, all the younger girls who talk about you guys. Especially the Gryffindor girls who like to go to the Quidditch games? They, actually, could probably be considered a fanclub.”    
The expression on his face told me I shouldn’t have said anything.    
“We have a fanclub?” His tone was still undeniably filled with glee, and I sighed desperately.    
“I mean- you guys are popular, so there’s obviously talk about you. Especially, you know, with all the attention you demand. And now that you guys got hot and everything-”   
“You think we’re hot?”   
“Oh my god, here we go again.” I rolled my eyes and let my head hit the bookcase behind me.    
“I can’t believe Diana Sterling just called me hot.”   
“And I can’t believe I just somehow helped Fred Weasley fall more in love with himself than he already had been.”    
“Aw, come on, I’m just excited that girls like me.”   
I cracked an eye open, and Fred was fidgeting with his shoelace. He was still smiling, but he was blushing again, and his hair was falling into his eyes. I mean, the school consensus wasn’t wrong- there was a reason girls liked the twins. Despite their obnoxious behaviour and various conniving pranks or whatever, they seemed like sweet guys. Except, obviously, when they ask your best friends to make a group chat without you.    
I turned my gaze to the ceiling, and the conversation died between us. 

“Why’d you exclude me from your group chat?” I said finally, without even considering if I wanted to know. Fred’s head shot up so fast he banged it on the bookshelf, and he winced in pain, pressing a hand to where he’d been hit. I sputtered out a shocked laugh.    
“Are you okay?” I asked genuinely, and he nodded, offering me a weak smile before frowning.   
“How’d you find out about that?”    
“Why does it matter?”    
His face really flushed this time.    
“Did you read any of the conversation?” He asked weakly.    
“No.”    
Fred’s whole body seemed to let out a sigh of relief, which just made me all the more curious.    
“What the fuck.” I let out without thinking, “Why’re you in a groupchat with my friends that I’m not included in?”

“It’s really not a big deal.”   
I frowned.    
“Of course it’s a big deal. I’m the one about to spend the holidays with you guys, and you didn’t want to hang out with me so bad that you made a group chat witho-”   
“No!” Fred exclaimed suddenly, shaking his hands and moving close to me again, “No no no no no, it wasn’t that, it’s nothing like that.”   
“Well, what is it then?”   
“It’s… It’s really nothing, really. Just um- just a stupid joke.”   
Something leapt into my throat. They were making fun of me?

“A joke?” I repeated weakly.    
“Yeah, yeah. It’s just a stupid joke. It’s really nothing.”   
There was a pregnant pause between us.    
“Was asking me to hang out today a joke too?” I asked softly, and Fred’s face contorted with horror.    
“No, oh my god. It has nothing to do with you.”   
I pouted, still feeling weird and emotional inside, but trying to come across as playful and uncaring in order to lighten the mood.    
“So why can’t I be included in the joke?”    
Fred sighed with a grimace, pushing a hand through his hair, making it stick up sort of funny in the back.    
“Because it’s embarrassing.” He said with a wince.    
“Embarrassing? For who? Me?”   
“No, no, not you.” He groaned, “For me.”   
“Why would something that’s embarrassing for you have to exclude me?”    
He looked down at me, and the way he did made my stomach do somersaults again. We were silent for a moment, and I waited patiently for my answer.    
“Seriously? You can’t figure it out?” He exclaimed after it seemed that the silence was too much to bear.    
“Nope.” I said quite confidently. Sure, maybe I could draw some sort of conclusion on my own, but it was either going to end up with me thinking too highly or too poorly of myself, and I wasn’t about to spiral right now. Everything had been going so nicely. 

Fred dropped his head between his legs, holding his knees to his ears. He muttered something to the floor.    
“What was that?” I said, jokingly cupping my hand to my ear.    
“I said I’m not ready to tell you.” He said a little louder, still hiding.    
“Tell me what!” I said in an exasperated tone. 

“Tell who what?” A voice came from down the aisle, and we both looked over to see Cedric standing at the entryway.    
“Hi Cedric.” I said brightly as Fred let out a small groan, and dropped his head back between his legs. Cedric offered me a warm grin in return, before giving Fred a strange look.    
  



	7. A Fight

Cedric walked over and leaned his shoulder against a bookshelf, looking down at the two of us. I had to crane my neck to look at him.   
“Good to see you two are on terms, then.” He said playfully, andit was Fred’s turn to look between Cedric and I. 

“Wait, we weren’t on good terms?” He sounded overly concerned, and I rolled my eyes.   
“Chill. Cedric brought me some food yesterday so I told him about the group chat.”   
“Brought you food?”   
“Yeah, cause I was like, hungover?”  
“....In your room?” 

There was a weird moment between the two boys, both staring down at me, and I made a face.   
“Like, yeah? I wanted to stay in bed.”  
“So you guys hung out in bed?”   
Cedric’s face flushed as I barked out a laugh, leaning forward and back quickly in exaggerated amusement.   
“Oh my god, not like that, Jeeeesus. We were just chillin’! Right, Ced?” I shot him a silly face, and he snickered, the blush ebbing away from his face. “Dude, sit down, you’re making me nervous.” I continued, and Cedric looked at Fred cautiously.

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude-” But he was interrupted by my scoff.   
“You’re not intruding. We’re all friends here. Right?” I turned to flash a smile at Fred, but it faltered from the look on his face. Cedric glanced at Fred again, then met my anxious gaze.

“No, you know, on second thought, I guess I’m not.” He said with a sly smile as Fred mumbled something unintelligible but undeniably angry under his breath. Cedric slid to sit on the other side of Fred’s legs, settling his bag between his own.   
“Do you not have class now?” I asked simply, feeling even more at ease now that Cedric was here. As nice as Fred was, I’d been feeling a little awkward and nervous in the last conversation, and it was nice to just have another person who was more used to my rambling. Besides, Cedric looked especially cute today, hair still wet from what I assumed had been a morning shower. Absently, I scratched at my own head, trying to remember when the last time I’d washed my hair was. I should probably do that before meeting the whole Weasley family for the first time- and, obviously, seeing my mom. 

“Nah, I have a free. Thought I could get some studying in before break. You know how my dad can be when I’m home- never really a free moment.”    
I nodded sympathetically, and Fred was still sulkily quiet. I glanced at him, but he was back to fiddling with his shoelace, not looking at either of us. 

“What about you, Fred? Your house usually busy during the holidays?”   
“Oh, I’m sure it is.” Cedric laughed. Fred shrugged.   
“I guess so.”   
“What do you mean, you guess so?” Cedric teased, turning to me and sitting up a little, waving his hands as he spoke, “Molly’s really great, you’re going to love her, but she’s always yelling at someone. At least, everytime that I’d been there. And obviously, these two are always plotting something, isn’t that right Fred? At last year’s party, they really outdid themselves, making a great big-”   
“I mean, she’s going to see for herself this year, isn’t she.” Fred snapped, and the light atmosphere immediately fell as Cedric tensed, moving away from me slightly and clearing his throat in surprise.   
“Yes, well, I guess you are.” He said quietly, folding his hands in his lap as Fred went back to looking miserable, playing with his shoelace.   
“Yo, what the fuck dude.” I said playfully after a moment of tense silence, knocking Fred’s knee with my foot, “I wanted to hear about what you guys did.”   
A blush creeped onto his face, but he stubbornly kept his eyes down.   
“Doesn’t matter- we’re going to do something better this year anyway.”   
“Well, could you still tell me about what you did last year?” I said, scooting so I was sitting with my knee under his, and he watched me move silently. I could see his jaw working as he thought about it, lifting his gaze to meet mine, which I tried to make encouraging and soft. He finally let out a great sigh, and opened his mouth,   
“We managed to get Bill to agree to dress up as a bloodied santa, and sent him down the chimney with a couple of empty firewhiskey bottles. He stumbled around the house for a bit and it was wicked funny watching him try to feel dad up before mum finally chased him out of the house with a knife.” His face softened with a slight smile at the memory, and Cedric burst into little giggles.

“That was Bill?” He heaved, holding his chest.   
“Yeah, it was pretty convincing, wasn’t it? Made the attaching mask myself. See,” Fred’s face suddenly lit up as he began to get into the mechanics of one of his inventions, and my heart thumped in my ears, “-you put it on, right, and it melds into your skin, just here?” He tapped with a finger just under his ear, and I had never noticed what nice long hands Fred had. “And then I used some simple transfiguration spells to get it to set into the movement of your face, so it all moves perfectly attached. Gets rid of the need for something like polyjuice while also letting you be pretty much anything, like a goblin or demon. George and I have a whole slew of designs thought up for scaring first years, but we were only really able to get Santa right as a prototype so far.”   
“Absolutely brilliant.’ Cedric was saying with a shake of his head, “I swear, you and George are some of the best wizards I know.”  
Fred beamed with pride at the compliment, shrugging a little humbly.   
“We’re pretty clever.” He snuck a peek at me as he spoke, and I gave him a delicate smile, which made his mood seem to lift even more. “Just wait until you see what we’ve got planned for this year, though. I mean, this is probably going to be our biggest Christmas party yet, with you guys involved,” He waved a hand towards me, “And mum’s renting out a great big tent for it. Which means a whole new platform to test some stuff out. George has been working on this elixir that’ll make mistletoe appear whenever you sneeze, and I’m trying to get the kinks out of-” He trailed off as my phone started to buzz rapidly. I hastily picked it up from where I’d dropped it earlier, checking as Cedric began to ask more questions and the boys started to talk amongst themselves. 

There were numerous ‘where are you????????’s and ‘are u mad at me :(((????’s from Peaches, as well as a couple of messages in the group chat about meeting up at lunch, was I alright, why wasn’t I in class, and then suddenly a whole slew of conversation about,   
“There’s a fight,” I read aloud, “Outside of the library. Apparently Ron’s involved in it.” I gave Fred a pointed look, who scrambled to his feet hurriedly. Cedric and I followed him as he walked at a brisk pace, Cedric being able to keep up pretty well with his long legs, but I had to jog slightly as I followed the two tall boys. I cursed my height as we got to the doors of the library, which were already crowded, and I was unable to see much over the shoulders of the tall fourth years before us. Fred pushed his way through, mumbling quiet excuses as he made his way to the front, and Cedric pushed me in between them so that I could follow.   
In the middle of the circle were four boys. One I recognized must have been Ron, Fred’s brother, from their signature red hair and gangly figure. He was holding back a boy with dark hair and glasses, who was spitting insults and curses at a bloodied blonde boy who was scrambling away from him on his back, looking terrified. 

Fred rushed to his brother’s side, and I followed without thinking, ending up sort of centered in the circle with the rest of the boys when McGonagall finally arrived, looking flustered and out of breath.   
“Weasleys, Potter, Sterling. Come here please.” She said in a strict tone, gesturing for the crowd that had collected to disperse. The blonde boy was trying to regain his composure, slicking his hair back and licking at his split lip, and I recognized him as Elliot’s friend Draco. I spotted Elliot standing some ways in the back of the crowd, and our eyes connected before he broke contact, rushing to Draco’s side and avoiding me at all costs. I chewed on my lip as we approached the teacher, the black haired bespectacled boy still seeming to brim with angry adrenaline. 

“Why is it always you, Potter.” McGonagall sighed once the crowd had thinned out to only a few spare Slytherins and Gryffendors who seemed to possibly be friends with the fighting boys. 

“Malfoy is a bully, professor. He got what he deserved.” The boy was saying, rubbing his noticeably wounded hands together. Ron looked a little put out by the statement, and Fred looked like he just wanted to leave. 

“Detention, all four of you. After dinner, my office.” She hissed, and Fred tried to speak up, to which she silenced him with a hand. “I will hear nothing of it, Weasley.”  
“But surely, she has nothing to do with this.” Ron said suddenly, and I gave him an anxious expression of appreciation.   
“Unfortunate she was caught at the wrong time then, isn’t it.” McGonagall said sternly, and I felt my face fall into a grimace. Of fucking course I got into trouble for something I literally wasn’t even there to enjoy. I caught Cedric’s eye behind the professor’s shoulder, and he looked practically constipated. Fred, however, stepped forward with determination.   
“Seriously, professor, Diana had nothing to do with this.”   
“Neither did Fred!” I insisted, tapping his shoulder and stepping forward as well. McGonagall studied the two of us with stern expressions.   
“Where are you two supposed to be this period?” She said gently. We froze, glancing at one another. “Detention, as I said then. After dinner, my office.” Her voice sounded final, and with a flourish of her cloak, she click clacked down the corridor. 

“Bloody hell.” Ron mumbled to himself as his friend let out a strangled sound.   
“He was harassing Hermione! I couldn’t just let it happen.” The dark hair boy said to Fred desperately. I watched as Fred nodded solemnly.   
  


Draco was gone by this point, along with his friends- Elliot included- and I felt a little betrayed. Cedric was still lingering, but most everyone was gone now, and an awkward silence fell upon the group.   
“You’re Alice’s sister, right?” Ron said quietly as his friend continued to rant to Fred about Draco. Cedric made his way over, and stood an awkward arm’s length away.   
“Yeah- you’re Fred’s brother, right?” I mimicked childishly. The boy let out an amused little huff, and bit his lip slightly. 

“My dad’s really excited to meet you guys.” He said in a hushed tone, and I felt my hands get clammy, but offered a momentary smile before Cedric finally grew the balls to butt in.    
“That was horrific.” He said quite seriously, which made me let out a tense laugh. 

“Lupin.” I said quite seriously as I landed heavily atop one of the front desks. 

“Sterling.” The teacher said without even looking up.   
“How’d you know it was me?” I asked haughtily, crossing my legs.   
“It’s always you, Diana. What do you need?” His voice sounded tired. 

DADA had just ended, and it was now lunch time- but I had decided to linger behind today, as I did an embarrassingly often amount. Juliet said once that my insistent attachment to our DADA teacher was a result of my dad dying when I was just at the cusp of my sexual development. Wilda was convinced that it was just an unhealthy crush that any boyfriend our age could help fix. Peaches said once that maybe it was just a sweet friendship. I personally liked to call my infatuation a dad crush- it was necessarily sexual nor was it romantic, merely a desperate desire to have the approval and attention of an older man I considered a mentor.

So I threw a paper at his face.   
He shot me a short glare before returning to the essay he seemed to be trying to get through.   
“Lupin, don’t you want to know about my day?” I whined, moving to sit at the desk I’d been atop of, sliding to a deep slouch.   
“Aren’t you hungry, Sterling?” Lupin said back with disinterest. I huffed, sliding further down in my chair, and he finally glanced up at me seriously, a smirk playing across his face. I pouted drastically and he finally sighed, placing the essay down and folding his hand on top of it, looking at me seriously.   
“How was your day so far, Diana?” His tone seemed condescending, but I didn’t care, as I launched into an explanation of today’s unfair events. 

“I wasn’t even a part of anything! I have no idea who that Potter kid even was! I just followed Fred without thinking.” I whined at the end of my story, flopping across the desk and letting out a heavy sigh. Lupin let out an amused chuckle, shaking his head at my antics and tapping his desk with his pen thoughtfully.   
“Well, for starters, it sounds like the Weasley boy might have feelings for you.” He said seriously, and I scoffed.   
“What, Ron? I only talked for him for like, thirty seco-”  
“No, Diana, I’m talking about Fred.”   
I rolled my eyes, even though I knew that was what he’d meant. I made a strangled noise in the back of my throat, mostly a result of not wanting to get my hopes up about anything, but also in response to a teacher commenting on my love life. 

“It’s the only explainable reason for the whole group chat drama.” He said in his usual calm, matter of fact way and I huffed dramatically. He shook his head in amusement before continuing, “I’ll talk to McGonagall though, as it sounds a little unfair for you to be in detention for a fight you weren’t a part of.”   
“Don’t get me wrong though Lupin, I could hold my own in a fight.” I said quickly, and the professor laughed.   
“Don’t worry Diana, I never thought such a thing.”  
I smiled contentedly, finally sitting up fully. There was a moment of easy silence between us as he seemed to mull over something.   
“How’s your mother doing these days?” He asked finally, and I slumped again, earning a slight chuckle.   
“She’s fine.” I said curtly, picking at the table, “We don’t talk very much. She’s making us go to the Weasley’s for the holidays, since we don’t have anywhere else to go this year.” My foot bounced beneath the desk, and I felt my heartbeat quicken at the prospect of having finally said that out loud. Lupin made a small sound in front of me.   
“Seems like Molly. She does like taking in strays. I’ll be at their Christmas party, you know.” 

I looked up at my teacher with an incredulous expression, which he let out a bark of a laugh at.   
“How do the Weasleys know fucking everyone!” I exclaimed, ignoring Lupin’s quiet plea of ‘language’, 

“I knew Arthur when we were younger,” Lupin said with sudden ease, leaning back and looking up with an expression of amusement at some memory he was reliving, “We ran in the same political circles. But it wasn’t until Harry became friends with Ron that we started getting invited to the Christmas parties.”   
“Harry? Like the Potter kid? Are you, like, related to him?” 

Lupin looked at me, surprised.   
“Well, not biologically, but his father is like a brother to me. So I do see them as family. As do the Weasleys, I suppose.”   
I flicked some stray eraser bits off the desk absently, leaning my head heavily on my hand, curling my fingers in my hair.   
“So I’m going to be an outsider for this too, huh.” I muttered, more to myself than my teacher, but he heard me none the less. 

“Oh, the Weasleys are such a welcoming family, Diana. I am entirely sure they’ll make sure to make you feel like one of them as best they can. Especially considering your situation.”   
I huffed, feeling my face grow hot as a result of various emotions tangling inside of me. I sensed that part of me wanted to cry, but my eyes stayed stubbornly dry, which I was thankful for. I picked at the desk, which had some sort of sentence carved into it. 

“Really, Diana.” Lupin said softly, “I’m sure you’re going to have a great time.”  
“I know.” I said back even softer, wanting nothing more than to shrink into nothing, or disappear into the floor, “I just miss having a home.”   
There was a scratching of chair against floor, and footsteps, and then a hand was placed on my shoulder. It was big, and warm, and suddenly my eyes were not so dry anymore. I tried to will them back into my face but they refused, and began to stream down my face. I hid it behind my hands and pressed them angrily into my skin, refusing to move, refusing to sob. Lupin’s hand began making slight comforting movements along my shoulders, and the gesture was so overwhelmingly all I had needed.   
“I can’t believe I got detention.” I got out with a weak laugh, sounding more whiny than I’d intended, and Lupin let out a surprised chuckle, crouching down to my level, gently taking my hands away from my face and pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. My stomach fluttered, but it wasn’t a romantic moment. It felt like an adult caring for a child, and my heart hammered in my ears as a small piece of me realized I hadn’t known that feeling in a very long time. He held one of my hands in his own tenderly.   
“You’ll get through it. Detention at Hogwarts can sometimes be fun, you know.”   
I sputtered out another laugh, and the tears continued to fall.   
“My mom’ll be so disappointed if she finds out. She’s always disappointed in me. I’m always fucking up. ‘In the wrong place at the wrong time.’” I said bitterly, making air quotes with my free hand. Lupin chuckled and patted the other. 

“I’m sure she just wants the best for you.”   
I rolled my eyes, sniffling and wiping at my face in frustration.   
“I know, it’s just hard to do the best when you don’t have the same tools as everyone else.” 

Lupin’s face looked almost stunned for a moment, and I realized he had freckles, underneath his scars. 

“I know, love. Trust me.” He practically whispered, and the genuinity of the statement had me humbled into silence. His thumb was stroking the back of my hand absently, and I stared at it instead of his face. Suddenly, the door to the classroom burst open and Lupin stood up swiftly, but placing a hand on the back of my seat in a protective gesture.   
“Lupin!” A boy’s voice practically screamed from behind me, and I recognized it as that Potter kid’s. I turned to see him trailed by a bushy haired, dark complexioned girl and a familiar freckled pale face. 

Ron looked a little apologetic as the girl gave me a curious glance while Harry barrelled past, ignoring my presence entirely.   
“Lupin, I swear to god, I’m going to kill Malfoy. I swear to god.” He started wringing his hands and pacing in the front of the room. The girl let out a heavy sigh and sat heavily on top of one of the desks. Ron sidled up to me as Lupin started to try and calm the pacing boy down, chiding him for bursting in while he was obviously with another student.   
“Sorry about this.” Ron said shyly, clasping his hands behind his back, “But we’ve been listening to him rant about stupid Malfoy all morning. Needed to make someo-, wait, have you been crying?”   
He said it soft enough that Harry and Lupin didn’t hear, but the girl looked over from where she was watching the chaos unfold up front. She leaned forward now, worry contorting her face.   
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She cried gently, “We wouldn’t have come in if we’d known there was someone else here.”   
I offered them a grin.   
“It’s all good.” I said, sniffling and wiping at my face, “Wasn’t anything but hormones anyway- you know how it be, full moons and shit.”   
They looked at me in confusion as I hurriedly gathered my things and rushed from the classroom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg phew ok im trying to hard to set up relationships before she goes to the burrow so sorry this is kind of long winded its still going to be like at least two more chapters before we get there lol  
> also her relationship w lupin is puuuuurely platonic like he feels bad for her bc u know he knows what it is to not rly have a home or whatever also she doesnt know abt him being a werewolf she was talking abt how theres a superstition that you can get stressed out around the full moon but teehee now the golden trio might think smth's up <3  
> also i couldnt remember if she already knew who hermione was but now she doesnt if you caught that she mentions her somewhere before let me know so i can ~delete~ it  
> omg ALSO if you want more golden trio content (theyre kinda dumb & also im making harry a sk8r boy) check out my draco fic tiny dancer it's set in the same universe ok love u all for reading omg bye <3


	8. Detention

I ran into Peaches, Juliet and Wilda outside the classroom.   
“Told you she’d be here.” Juliet said haughtily as Peaches squealed my name, grabbing my arm.   
“Are you still mad at me?” She cried helplessly, and beside her Wilda rolled her eyes.   
“Mad at us, Peaches.” Wilda said, examining her nails. I looked at my three friends. 

“No, I’m not mad.” I said with a heavy sigh. I was tired, and could feel it behind my eyes. “I was never actually mad. Just a little hurt.”  
“I know, I told them you’d be upset if you found out!” Juliet rushed to assure me, grabbing onto my other arm. Peaches hugged the one she held to her chest, bursting into a grin.   
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re not mad. Where were you last period?”

“Did you see the fight?” Wilda tacked on.

I groaned, tipping my head back as they two of them began to pull me towards the dining hall, Wilda trailing close behind. 

“Yes, unfortunately, and McGonagall caught me skipping. Now I have detention.”   
“But why were you skipping? You’re pretty behind.” Juliet pointed out as the four of them reached the great hall. I felt a little nervous at being in the crowded room, but was relieved when my friends decided to sit at the far end, where it had mostly emptied out by now.   
“I ran into Fred.” I said cautiously as I reached for a plate, not looking any of them in the face. Peaches let out a little squeal. 

“Fred Weasley!” She exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes.   
“Yes, the only Fred we know.” I deadpanned, but they ignored me.   
“Why were you hanging out?” Juliet prodded, leaning forward, Wilda placing a full cup of coffee before her. 

“It better be to shag, otherwise it probably wasn’t worth falling behind in your classes.” Wilda added simply, pouring another cup of coffee for me, and then tea for herself. I scrunched up my face in disgust, helping myself to a portion of mac and cheese. 

“No, Jesus, we just hung out at the library. It really wasn’t that deep- Cedric joined us after a little while, then we heard about the fight and obviously Fred had to go check it out.” 

“Cedric again, huh?” Juliet said in a light tone. I glanced at her. 

“Again?” 

“Well, it sounds like you guys have been hanging out a lot, lately.” Peaches continued,

“I mean, we’re just hanging out. I am able to have male friends without being in love with them, you know.” I gave Juliet a pointed look, and she ignored me, flipping her glossy hair behind her shoulder. 

“No idea what you’re referring to.” She said haughtily. 

“Anyway, Fred mentioned that I shouldn’t worry about the groupchat.”  
“Well, yeah, of course he’d say that.” Wilda’s voice was laced with amusement, and I let out a frustrated sound. 

“Will you guys just tell me what it’s about?” I exclaimed in exasperation. 

“No.” Juliet said simply, and I could practically see the red heart emoji in her tone. I grumbled nonsense into my food as Peaches started to fill me in on all of the things I’d missed in class. 

“I’ll give you my notes tonight, though.” She assured me after she finally noticed that I hadn’t really been listening.   
“I don’t know when I’ll be out of detention, so don’t wait up for me. I can always get them tomorrow.”  
“What’s the point of getting them tomorrow? You’ll be just as lost in class as if you’d just never gotten them at all.” Peaches pointed out, and I nodded at her logic. 

“Wait, if you were with Fred when you got detention, does that mean you’ll be in detention together?” Juliet asked suddenly, a sly smile decorating her face. 

“Well like, yeah, why?” 

“How romantic.” Wilda drawled, and I kicked her under the table. She let out a cackling laugh, shaking her head. “He’s been staring at you, you know.”   
“Who?”   
“Fred, you dimwit.” 

I swung around to face the Gryffindor table, and just barely caught the boy’s eye before he hastily turned towards his brother, who was telling a story rather animatly. 

“Way to be subtle.” Juliet mumbled into her coffee. I looked between the four of them. 

“Okay, what is going on.” I said in a serious tone. 

“What do you mean?” Peaches asked with an innocent face. I pushed her a little, and she giggled.   
“Guys, is Fred like, out to get me or something?” I pushed after they refused to answer. 

“I suppose, in a manner of speaking.” Juliet mused. I cried out in frustration. 

“Y’all are so fucking annoying.” I dragged my hands through my hair anxiously. 

“Drink.” Wilda said gently, and the three of them took great gulps of whatever drink was in font of them. 

“Why do you guys do that?” A voice suddenly questioned from above my head, and I looked directly upwards to see Cedric hovering behind me. 

“It’s for when Diana says ‘y’all’” Juliet informed the boy sweetly, mimicking my American accent perfectly. He let out an amused huff.   
“I’ve never heard her say that.” 

“That’s because she only says it when she’s annoyed.” Peaches piped up. 

“Nobody knows why,” I grumbled as I turned back to my food, “-since I’m from the East Coast.” 

“I guess I’m happy to hear I’ve never annoyed you.” Cedric laughed, moving slightly closer to the table. I could feel the warmth of his hand behind me, and felt a little nervous at the thought. I wondered, idly, if Fred would notice. 

“You could never annoy anyone, Cedric.” Peaches practically purred, sitting so that her arms emphasized her chest. I knew exactly what Cedric’s expression would look like in response to Peaches’s antics, and didn’t even bother looking up at him as the other three girls burst into giggles.   
“Why don’t you sit with us, Diggory? I heard you and Diana ran into the fight earlier today.” Wilda gestured to the free space next to me, and Cedric took it quickly. He sat with his legs on the outside of the bench, but his torso was turned in towards the conversation. His knee bumped lightly into my back every now and then as he relayed what little we’d seen go down between Potter and Malfoy. 

“I ship them.” Juliet said simply after he’d finished. 

“Ship them?” Cedric repeated curiously as Wilda shook her head.   
“No way, that Potter boy is definitely straight. Haven’t you heard the way he talks about Quidditch?” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“But he cuffs his jeans.” Peaches pointed out, and Wilda seemed to take that into great consideration. 

“I cuff my jeans.” Cedric piped up innocently, and we all looked at him in surprise. He lifted up a leg, pointing at the ends of his wool pants, which really were neatly folded up a couple of times, showing off a pair of yellow socks. 

“Are those bumblebees?” I asked, being the closest one to his leg and thus the one able to see the tiny decorations on Cedric’s black school shoes. His face flushed pink, and he swung his leg back down hurriedly. 

“Cuffed jeans and bumblebee shoes?” Juliet said with a light giggle, “Are you trying to tell us something, Diggory?”   
“I don’t know what you guys are talking about.” Cedric said anxiously, shaking his head and hugging his bag to his chest, “Anyway, it’s almost time for Arithmancy. Diana, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to walk together?” 

I groaned dramatically, looking at my only half eaten plate.   
“Right now?” I whined, and he looked slightly taken aback. 

“I mean- sorry- we don’t have to-” He stuttered, but Wilda shook her head.   
“You can’t get in between Diana and her food. Besides, she’s always late. To everything.” The girl leaned heavily across the table to emphasize as she reiterated, “Everything.”   
“Oh my god okay, not everything.” I interrupted, pushing my friend’s face away as she burst into giggles. “But I do fucking hate Arithmancy.”  
“I know.” Cedric said simply, “You tell me everyday. I can wait for you to finish, though. We’ve still got a couple of minutes before we’d be in danger of being late.”   
As I rushed to finish my food, and my friends continued conversation on around me, I felt an odd tingling at the back of my neck. Without thinking, I glanced towards where I knew Fred and George were sitting with their friends. Sure enough, I met the latter’s gaze again, albeit this time it was unwavering. I raised a brow at him, and held up a couple of fingers in a small wave. He blinked, and scratched his nose before doing the same, but his face remained pretty still. The lack of a smile was uncomfortable, and his eyes flit back and forth between Cedric and I. They weren’t sitting too far from us, and if I wanted to I was sure I could tune in to the conversation George was engaging in with an overly enthusiastic looking Lee. Fred’s shoulders were hunched in, the same oddly shy way they had been when we were talking earlier this morning. I turned back to my food, shoveling the last bites into my mouth hastily.

Where Cedric made me feel uneasy, Fred made my heart flutter with excitement. I hated it- the way I could hear blood rushing in my ears at the idea that Fred was probably still looking at me, looking at Cedric, probably wondering what we were doing together. Something in me wanted him to be looking- wanted him to see me leave the hall alone with Cedric. Part of me wanted to see if the Weasley boy would do anything- if he would care in some way. But another part of me was scared to get my hopes up. I’d been told so many times by Judas a long time ago that getting my hopes up was stupid- that boys wouldn’t pay attention to me the way that he had for so long. 

“Ready to go?” Cedric said gently once he realized my plate was empty.   
“Um, yeah.” I said with a shy smile, collecting my belongings and saying goodbyes to my friends. Before we turned to leave though, I glanced back at the Gryffindor table, and my stomach lurched when I realized that Fred wasn’t looking in my direction anymore. 

“Are you going to go to that party thing tomorrow night? You know, the end of term thing that the Slytherin kids always do.” Cedric was asking as we walked through the now crowding halls.   
“Oh- the woods thing, right?” I hugged myself at the thought of being out in the cold. The Slytherin house had a tradition of throwing end of term parties, considering they were usually the kids who had enough money to not get caught or get out of any consequences. Plus, with Crabbe and Goyle being the school’s go to for alcohol, it always made sense that they would be the ones providing. I’d never gone to one, though, as last year I was kind of young, and still with Judas, and had been pretty overwhelmed at the prospect of couch surfing for an entire summer. 

“Yeah- yeah the woods thing. I just, you know, I’ve never been and I remember you saying last term that you’d never been so I thought that maybe we could- well, I don’t know, maybe we could go together?” 

I glanced up at him, but he was keeping his eyes straight ahead, pushing and dodging kids as they walked past in the opposite direction. 

“Yeah, we could go. I’m sure the girls would be ecstatic to hear you’d be joining us.”    
I watched Cedric’s face grow hard, and his brow furrowed a little. I knew, realistically, that he’d been asking if I wanted to go just the two of us. And sure, maybe there was a good part of me that would have loved to go with just Cedric. He had such a stunning face, and he was so nice and kind and sweet. But then there was that pesky part of me that wanted to know what was going on with Fred- dangerous, rebellious, chaotic Fred. It seemed stupid, but the idea of the popular, older boy having some sort of interest in me was such a rush of adrenaline that I didn’t want to jeprodize it by showing up to something with a date- even if the date was someone I could really use in my life right now. 

“Yeah, with the girls.” Cedric said finally as we reached the door to Arithmancy. He sounded a little put out, even maybe a little sad, and my chest constricted slightly with guilt.

McGonagall didn’t have anything planned for detention, she informed us. We were basically supposed to just sit for a couple of hours. We could do homework, she suggested, but no talking, and she would hear if we did since she’d be in the other room. She had us put our phone in a little basket which she took with her into an office off the side of the classroom. But as the door closed, Ron muttered some grievances to Potter under his breath, and when the door remained closed, the two boys continued into idle and quiet conversation. 

I was sitting a couple of desks away from Fred. My feet were pressed up against the edge of the table, and I used the leverage to put my chair back onto two legs, balancing precariously as I stared up at the ceiling, neck aching slightly from being arched into such an awkward degree. I didn’t hear him come over until the chair next to me moved, and I dropped the two front legs in surprise. The loud bang made all four of us pause, and Ron and his friend turned to give me an accusing look. We all remained quiet for a second, but then again, when nothing happened, everyone returned to what they were doing. 

Fred leaned forward as he spoke quietly. 

“Sorry I got you into this.” His voice was so soft, and it made my cheeks feel a little warm.

“You didn’t do anything, no need to apologize.” I said back gently, matching his tone. He smiled a little, then turned in his seat to face me, leaning an arm across the desk before him and resting his head against his fist. 

“So you and Diggory are pretty close, huh?” 

I shrugged nonchalantly. 

“I mean, we’re not not close.”   
“But you’re always together.”   
“He just always happens to show up.”   
“Just happens to?” 

I glanced over at Fred. His face was hard to read, holding an easy smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. I chewed on my lip, moving to fold my arms on the desk before me. 

“He’s a good guy.” I said simply after a moment, and Fred’s demeanor seemed to grow cold, somehow. 

“Sure, he is a good guy. I’ll give him that.” He said in a light tone, turning to face away from me. We sat in a heavy silence for a little while, Potter and Ron’s low conversation and snickers the only thing audible in the large empty classroom. 

“Are you going to the Slytherin thing?” I glanced at him tentatively as I asked, and watched him shrug a little. 

“Not sure yet.”    
My heart sank to my stomach. 

“Oh.” 

The heavy silence returned. He seemed to be scratching something into the desk with a pen, and I bounced my pencil by the eraser, not bothering to even try looking at some homework right now. After a little while I realized that Ron and Potter had been glancing our way every now and then, their conversation becoming more whispered and frantic, Potter shoving Ron slightly as he noticed me looking. They both began pushing one another, hissing something I couldn’t quite hear before Ron finally turned slightly in his chair, letting out a great sigh to get our attention. 

“Are you guys dating?” He finally asked simply, and I felt my face flush pink as I side eyed Fred. He seemed still, but let out a light laugh at the question. 

“No, mate, we aren’t dating.”   
“Oh okay.”   
They turned back around and there were more hushed whispers, Potter shoving Ron before he turned around again. I watched with amusement at the exchange, and Ron’s face grew pink under my gaze.   
“Harry thinks you’re pretty, Sterling.” He said nervously, glancing at his friend, who was looking at me shyly over his shoulder. I let out a bright laugh, slapping a hand over my mouth in surprise. 

“That’s so sweet.” I managed out finally, and Fred was leaning his chair back now, tapping his pen against his thigh. I suddenly felt very frustrated at his removal from the situation, and angry at the idea that he was assuming things about my friendship with Cedric. Sure, maybe his assumptions were based in some sort of truth, but still. Assuming things about someone was rude. So I leaned forward on the desk and placed my chin in my hands childishly, offering Harry a flirtatious smile. 

“You’re very pretty as well, Potter.” I said lightly, and Fred’s chair fell to the floor abruptly. Harry turned a little in his seat, offering a shy grin. 

“Really?” His voice was hushed and excited, and I felt a little bad at using the younger boy. But I knew I had Fred’s attention, and I wanted to hold it for as long as I could. So I let out a long ‘mhm’, accompanied with a dramatic nod. The boy’s shy grin grew wider, and he pushed Ron a little, whispering something to him. Ron sighed, and looked between the three of us. 

“Are you guys going to the Slytherin thing?” He asked in an exasperated tone. 

“No.” Fred said suddenly, and we all looked at him. His eyes were on the floor, but his head was held high and his mouth was a tight line. I was surprised at the serious tone, and drew into myself a little at the sight. He seemed almost… Angry? Annoyed? Maybe I had gotten the wrong idea. Maybe Fred really had just been trying to be nice, appease me before spending the holidays together so that it wouldn’t be awkward. Maybe the twins really did not like me. I felt my stomach do somersaults at the weird tension that filled the room. Ron looked between the two of us in confusion while I felt Harry’s steady gaze on me. 

“Yeah, I’m going to be there with Cedric.” I regretted the words the moment they left my lips as Fred’s eyes shot up to me. I ignored him though, watching as Harry’s face contorted with a whole slew of emotion. 

“Diggory? You’re friends with Cedric Diggory?” His voice was more excited than I’d anticipated, and I nodded offhandedly. 

“Yeah, we hang out pretty often.” I did meet Fred’s look then, and he rolled his eyes, getting up from the seat next to me dramatically and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Oi, where are you going!” Ron cried, pointing at his older brother, who was headed towards the door. 

“Somewhere else. Tell Minerva I said sorry I had to run, but that it was nice seeing her.” Fred turned around as he spoke, walking backwards and pushing the door open with his back. He bowed a little at the three of us. “Lads, it’s been a good time, hope you enjoy the rest of your night.” And with a dramatic flourish, he was gone. I stared at the door, face dropping into a dumbfounded expression. 

“He was here ten minutes longer than last time.” Harry pointed out into the silence that followed, and Ron shook his head sadly. 

“That boy is never going to graduate.” He moaned, slumping back against the desk. Then the two boys peered at me curiously. 

“That was so weird.” I said bluntly, and Harry snickered as Ron huffed. 

“Well, he was obviously jealous. I mean come on, the whole school knows he has a crush on you.”   
I felt a ringing in my ears. 

“Are you really going out with Diggory?” Harry was saying, seeming less nervous now that Fred was gone, turning in his chair so that he was straddling it, fully facing me. I shook my head, waving my hand a little. 

“No, no, hold up. Go back. What do you mean, Fred has a crush on me?” 

Ron's face drained of color.   
"Wait, you didn't know?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg whew ok finally some movementttt   
> idk why diana's being hella toxic but i have the feeling it might get worse before she gets better   
> also jealous fred makes me?? feel things so im sorry we'll be seeing a lot of him from now on   
> hope u guys are enjoying and i tried to reformat everything so pls lmk if there's any more issues in the structure or reading or whatever ahh!!!   
> ok hope ur having a good day pls feedback is welcome love u bye <3


	9. Into the Woods: part one

Ron had seemed embarrassed and hesitant to explain anything further to me when I explained that no, I had not known. The rest of detention went on in awkward silence, with Harry occasionally trying to start conversation with me, which I haughtily denied him, being angry with the two for not telling me anything. Goddamnit, nobody was telling me anything. 

McGonagall had merely sighed when she saw that Fred was no longer there, and handed us our phones back, giving Fred’s to Ron and asking him if he could kindly let his brother know that she’d be expecting him back here tomorrow at lunch time. In the common room, Peaches tried to give me the notes for tomorrow’s class, but my head was too heavy to think about anything academic at the moment. I slept poorly, tossing and turning, feeling stupid and childish for letting some dumb boy get to me this deeply. I kept replaying Fred’s angry glare, his cold tone, his defiant exit, and the images gnawed at my stomach. Everyone knew that he had a crush on me? What did that even mean? 

The questions tumbled around in my head the whole next day, and by the time I was in Peaches’s dorm room, getting ready for the party, I couldn’t keep it inside any longer without going insane. 

“Ron told me Fred has a crush on me.” I said suddenly, without thinking, causing my three friends to look at me in surprise. 

“He did what!” Peaches exclaimed, bouncing to sit on the bed next to me. She was wearing form-fitting brown wool pants and a tight turtleneck that accentuated her natural waist. Her hair was swept into a top knot, with a few tasteful curls framing her face. 

“That Fred has a crush on me, and everyone knows.” I accentuated ‘everyone’, looking between the three of them. Peaches was merely blinking at me innocently, but Wilda was avoiding my gaze and Juliet looked painfully guilty. 

“Ok, fine, it was Peaches’s idea.” Juliet finally cried after an awkward moment of silence. She was wearing a small knit sweater and high waisted jeans. The pale beige sweater brought out the pink nervous blush that was blooming on her face. 

“So you guys did know.” I exclaimed, pointing at the three of them accusingly. Peaches moved to pull me into a desperate hug, and yelled apologies as I tried to wiggle out of her grasp. 

“Technically it was Fred’s idea! We were trying to set you two up!” She was saying.   
“Which we’re miserable at, apparently.” Wilda said defeatedly, folding her arms against her oversized black hoodie. 

“I thought it would be fun, but you’re so daft sometimes Diana, honestly.” Juliet was sighing, moving to hug me from my other side so I was unable to escape either. I huffed and hawed until they finally let me go, standing and turning to look between the three, crossing my arms angrily. 

“You should have just told me.” 

“We know.” Peaches’s voice was soft, and my demeanor softened a little. 

“I mean, it doesn’t matter now. I made him really mad yesterday.”  
“Wait, you what.” Wilda deadpanned, moving to sit next to Peaches, so now the three looked up at me like an audience. I felt my face fill with blood, and I shoved my hands into my pockets, leaning back on my heels a little, looking off to the side nervously. 

“Diana,” Juliet said in a calm and stern way, “What did you do?”  
“It’s not that bad.” I murmured, and Peaches let out a little cry. 

“We’ve been working so hard Diana!” She exclaimed.  
“Obviously not that hard! I had no idea what was going on!” I yelled back. Wilda suddenly burst out into laughter, stunning the rest of us. She gasped and giggled, throwing her head back and shaking her short dark hair.   
“We were really so bad at it. I don’t know why Fred thought we’d be able to help at all.”   
Peaches started to giggle as well, and then Juliet, and then we were all laughing, and it was a heavy, gasping, clapping type of laughter. The tension that had started to form was quickly gone from the room, and I collapsed onto the floor. 

“You guys are so stupid holy fuck.” I told the ceiling as we finally were able to compose ourselves. 

“Diana, what did you do to anger Fred?” Peaches prodded, nudging me with a foot. I let out a heavy sigh, keeping my gaze upwards.   
“I told him I was going to the thing tonight with Cedric.” 

Juliet let out a low groan.   
“That must be why he told us he wouldn’t be going.”   
“George said he was acting odd today.” Wilda added. 

“I didn’t mean to upset him! He was just being so weird and I was getting so fed up. Like,” I pushed myself up onto my elbows, looking at the three of them, “-he was making it sound like I was hanging out with Cedric a bunch on purpose, like as though I liked him or something, and then he started like- ignoring me? Kind of. Maybe I was overreacting a little. But then Harry asked me if I was going to the thing tonight with anyone and I just- I don’t know, mentioned Cedric. And then!” I sat up dramatically. Wilda had gone back to the mirror to finish her makeup, and Juliet had started glancing at her phone. But Peaches was sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes lit with excitement at the gossip, “-Then Fred fucking left detention! Like he literally got up in this dramatic display and left! And then Ron said that he liked me and I was like what? Huh? Since fucking when?”   
My voice got a little high and desperate at the end, and there was a beat of silence. 

“So do you like Cedric?” Peaches asked. I chewed on my cheek, contemplating the question. 

“I mean, I like hanging out with him.” I said defeatedly, and Juliet huffed slightly, having finally checked her phone. We glanced at her, but she remained silent, thumbs tapping her screen rapidly. 

“Well, do you like Fred?” Wilda suggested when Juliet didn’t say anything. 

“I barely know Fred!” I cried, covering my face with my hands.   
“He’s a really sweet guy, when you get to know him.” Peaches said shyly. Wilda hummed in agreement. 

My phone buzzed then, and I glanced at the screen. Cedric was asking if we wanted to pregame. I relayed the information to the girls, and they expressed excitement at the idea. 

We pregamed by the lake. Cedric had brought two of his teammates from the Quidditch team, and Peaches seemed elated. She had placed herself in the middle of them, asking all sorts of mundane questions about the sport, feeding their egos. Juliet had absently hugged one of the water bottles of vodka we brought to her chest, still typing on her phone frantically. She’d barely put the thing down since we left the dorms. 

“Who do you suppose she’s texting?” Wilda muttered as she sidled up next to me, crossing her arms against the cold. She’d demanded one of the boys lend her a beanie, and she’d pulled it down to her eyebrows, making her face seem rounder and her eyes darker. 

“I have no idea.” I said honestly, flexing my hands in my jacket pockets, feeling the warmth of the vodka starting to spread through my body, “But she said it was embarrassing, remember?” 

“Do you think it’s the same guy?” 

I shrugged, and Wilda let out a little snort, shaking her head as we watched our friend let out a little puff of air, brows furrowing as she began to type even faster. 

“I feel bad for whoever is receiving those paragraphs.” Cedric said quietly as he approached the two of us. Wilda nodded sullenly, and then gestured for Cedric to pass her his own bottle of vodka. 

“Juliet is always texting paragraphs to someone, though.” She said swiftly before taking a large swig, only wincing slightly as she swallowed. She passed it to me, and I did the same, relishing in the warmth the alcohol brought me. Cedric stomped his feet a little and blew into his hands. 

“Cold out tonight, huh.” He said offhandedly. I hummed in agreement, passing the bottle back to him. He took it and shoved it into the pocket of his coat. The three of us stood awkwardly watching Juliet. 

“I hate the cold.” I groaned to break the silence, shoving my face into the scarf wrapped around my neck. Cedric let out an amused huff as Wilda shook her head. 

“I’m sure it’ll be warm at the spot. I heard some Gryffindors talking about a bonfire.”   
“That sounds like a fire hazard.” Cedric said bluntly. 

“It’s always a fire hazard when Gryffindors are involved.” Wilda said in the same tone, and Cedric chuckled. 

“Good point. It’s always just a hazard in general when Gryffindors are involved.”    
I shook my head. 

“Makes for a fun party, though.” I mumbled into my scarf, and my friends agreed besides me. 

“Should we maybe start heading out?” One of Cedric’s friends suggested, a tall fifth year named Irving who had floppy blonde hair that wouldn’t stay out of his eyes. He shoved the hair as he spoke, and I watched with amusement as Peaches gazed at the movement longingly. 

“Yeah, Otis just texted asking where we were.” Said the other one, who was slightly shorter and stouter. He’d told us his name, but everyone said to call him Bull, in relation to his stature and strength. As bad as the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was, they’d be much worse, Cedric had whispered to me earlier, if it weren’t for Bull. 

Juliet voiced her agreement with the boys, and Peaches took Irving’s arm playfully as we all began to walk towards the woods.    
  
  


The path to the party was signalled by tiny lit orbs spaced far enough apart that, to the uninformed eye, they’d simply look like moonlight peeking through the trees. But Irving, who was a year older, and had been going to these things since third year, walked the path with ease. We followed behind him, falling into somewhat of a line, with Irving and Peaches leading, Bull trailing behind them, Wilda and Juliet walking side by side in silence, and Cedric and I ending up in the back, walking a little slower than the rest. 

“You doing okay?” Cedric’s voice was soft, and it surprised me how close he had leaned in to whisper. 

“Yeah,” I shot him a small smile, “I’m all good. Just fuckin’ cold.” I hugged myself for emphasis, and he laughed, reaching around so he could rub my arm, effectively tucking me into his side. I felt stiff at the movement, but the alcohol in my system made any awkwardness I felt brief and forgotten as I relaxed into the warmth of Cedric’s body. We walked quietly like that for a while, and somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered once again if maybe I could just end up with Cedric. Maybe there was a chance at something between us, something that could be healthy and steady and honest. And then I thought about Fred’s glances, and my stomach churned angrily. Why hadn’t he just fucking said something? 

Before thinking too hard about it, I slid the vodka bottle from Cedric’s pocket, uncapping it miserably. He looked down in surprise but didn’t say anything, just motioning for me to hand it over after I took a large swig. The amount of alcohol burning it’s way to my stomach made me wince slightly, and Cedric chuckled softly at the face I pulled. 

“You sure you’re okay?” He murmured before taking a small sip for himself.   
“Why do you keep asking?” I asked roughly as I took the bottle from him, shaking the contents and taking another, albeit smaller, shot before capping it and sliding it back into his pocket. I felt Cedric’s shrug more than saw it, and dimly realized he smelled really nice. Like a sort of pine scent, something woodsy and clean. There was mint under the smell of vodka on his breath, and beneath that something sweet that I couldn’t quite place. The smell washed over me as he leaned down to speak, pulling me in tighter to his side. 

“You just seem a bit out of sorts, is all.” He whispered, and I felt a small flutter in the pit of my stomach. 

“I’m just distracted, I guess. Excited for the holidays.”    
He glanced down at me, and I was surprised at the unchecked genuity his face held. 

“With the Weasleys, right? I’m sure it’ll be a great time. I’ll even admit I might be a bit envious. I’ve always wished I could spend a long time at the Weasley’s house, ever since I was a kid.”   
I cautiously wrapped an arm around his torso, hugging Cedric close to me and resting my chin on his chest so I was looking up at him instead of the ground as we walked. He smiled down at me brightly, and I knew what I was doing. I would have felt bad, if it weren’t for the vodka. Guilty, even. I probably wouldn’t even be there, so willingly held, if it weren’t for the vodka. 

But the little sips and gulps of the harsh liquid were finally catching up to me, and I felt warm and giddy and happy just to be against another body- a nice smelling, steady, honest body. Cedric’s hand felt big and strong as it slipped to curl around my waist, pulling me even closer and keeping me steady on my feet. His touch was so gentle, so reassuring, that the drunk part of my brain almost wanted to cry. It’d been such a long time since I’d had a genuine hug, since I’d been able to feel comfortable being comforted, that I could have ended the night right there, walking through the forest with Cedric. 

Eventually we got to the party, though. 

You could tell you were getting close by the familiar buzzing of the muffliato charm, which surrounded the area to keep any sound being able to waft back to the castle. Then the trees suddenly opened up into a clearing, and it was filled with all sorts of loud shouts and laughter and music blasting from an unseen force. There was a bonfire in the center, with a bunch of boys wooping and tossing sticks and logs into it, yelling as the flames spit and danced in response. A crowd of kids were already squirming against one another to the side, the music louder where they were. The fire cast an orange glow onto the scene, and it’s warmth seemed to have been contained to the area, making it feel as if you’d just walked into a well heated house. I sighed in relief at the burst of warm air, and rubbed at my dripping nose. Cedric laughed at my childish display, letting go of my side to slide his jacket off his shoulders, tossing it towards the giant pile of coats and sweaters that had collected by the drinks. 

“Vodka.” I said simply, pointing at the jacket that Cedric had just tossed, and the boy let out a small laugh, moving to grab the bottle from the pile and placed it in my outstretched hands. I smiled at him childishly, hugging the thing to my chest as he tousled my hair in response. We stood for a moment just looking at one another before Wilda was at my side, grasping my arm. 

“I found out who it is- the boy Juliet’s been messaging!” She hissed into my ear, pulling me away from Cedric’s touch and towards Peaches, who looked between the two of us eagerly. She then pointed to where Juliet appeared to be marching, and a scared looking Cormac McLaggen was glancing at her, then us, then her again. There was a small third year pushed up against him, but he was holding his hands up in a surrender stance, showing that he wasn’t holding the girl there by any means. Juliet grabbed one of his hands and dragged him away, to the edge of the clearing. 

“McLaggen?” I said stupidly, and Peaches erupted into a fit of giggles.   
“Isn’t it the strangest thing you’ve ever heard?” She cried gleefully. I shook my head, looking at Wilda, who wore an expression similar to mine.

“Who’d have thought.” She said dully, and I watched as a shadow of something more than confusion passed over her face. Before I could think anything of it, Irving had shown up at Wilda’s shoulder, offering her a red cup. She took it without thinking, and before I could say anything, downed the entire thing. 

“Wilda.” I hissed as she motioned for Irving to pass her the cup he presumably had gotten for himself. He did so with a surprised expression. “Wilda!” I tried again as she repeated her action, “Wilda, nothing unopened that you didn’t watch get made!”    
She shook her head at me, waving a hand. 

“Don’t be so neurotic, Diana. Irving, honey, do you think you could get me another one?” She smiled up at the boy sweetly, batting her eyes. I looked between her and Peaches, who seemed furious at the exchange. 

“What gives?” Peaches said in a low, angry tone as the boy walked away, and she punctuated her question with a slight push, “I obviously called dibs.”   
“You can’t call dibs on people, Peaches.” Wilda said calmly, checking her phone and refusing to look at any of us in the face. “Besides, you have nothing to worry about. Irving isn’t really my type.” 

“Not your type?” Peaches cried, clapping her hands to her cheeks, “How can he not be your type! He’s so dreamy!” She sighed dramatically, then shook her head, turning to grab me by the arm. “Come on, Diana, if Wilda is trying to steal Irving from me then we’d better find someone else for me to flirt with quickly, otherwise it’s you I’m crying to for the rest of the night.”   
I let her pull me away from our friend, knowing that I probably looked as dumbfounded at the fast pace of events as I felt. 

The alcohol table was literally just a haphazardly placed wooden dining table littered with all sorts of bottles, cans and cups. Peaches pushed someone tall and lean out of the way as she moved to survey the surface, and as the owner of that tall and lean body looked down to shoot her an annoyed glare, I realized he was familiar. 

“Lee Jordan!” Came out of my mouth before I could stop it, and he looked back at me in surprise. I was relieved when he offered his bright grin, turning towards me after picking up a large can of beer. 

“Blonde girl who’s name starts with a D!” He said briskly, and I laughed. 

“Diana.” I let go of the vodka for a moment to flip my hair in an overly exaggerated manner, and he watched with mild amusement. 

“Right, Diana, sorry. I’m terrible with names.” 

“It’s all good, I am too.”   
“Then I’m flattered that you remembered mine!” He said it so brightly that I really did find myself not minding that the older boy hadn’t remembered. Then thought crossed my mind that if Fred liked me so much, why wouldn’t his friend know my name? But it was gone quick as it came and replaced simply with the thought of Fred. 

“Are the Weasley twins with you?” I asked timidly, not trying to seem obvious, but knowing that the vodka in my system would allow me to be anything but coy. Lee laughed slightly, moving to scratch at the back of his head, surveying the crowd. 

“George was literally right next to me a second ago, but I don’t know where he went. And Fred is- well, he- I’m not sure if he’s going to show up tonight.” He looked down at me then with an awkwardly apologetic look, and I fiddled with the water bottle in my hands, not meeting his eye. Before I could respond, though, a familiar voice was greeting Lee, and he was turning away to talk to a girl I recognized but couldn’t name. 

She flashed a small smile my way when our eyes met, apologizing softly about having to take Lee away, but it really was important, and with that they were gone. 

“I see George.” Peaches was suddenly hissing in my ear, pushing a red solo cup filled with something an almost comical shade of blue. It smelled sickly sweet and I grimaced at it, watching it slosh slightly onto my jacket. “Come on, Diana, let’s go say hi.”   
“Peaches, I really don’t-” I tried to argue but we were already moving, and I could see George’s ginger mop of hair towering above the crowd, turning our way, catching my eye, offering a slight smile and wave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi this like party scene is starting to go on forever so i decided to split it into two chapters omg lets see how it goes


	10. Into the Woods: part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for some sliiiiight smut not rly anything just thought i should give a heads up  
> its literally just heavy making out idk anyway pls enjoy its my first time writing anything spicy in a while so feedback would be much appreciated omg

The one person I had been expecting least to see tonight was my sister. 

She was standing in between George and the dark haired boy from the other day. There was a red solo cup in her hand, and she had it tucked close to her chest. Her glasses were gone tonight, and she wore a little bit of makeup. Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid and she wore a loose sweater blue sweater and ripped skinny jeans. 

“Cimex!” I exclaimed when I saw her, and her face grew red as she registered my level of intoxication. 

“Nox.” Alice’s tone was even and low. George looked between the two of us as Peaches introduced herself to the rest of the circle. 

“You two know one another?” He said with an air of amusement, “And you have a secret language?” 

“Latin isn’t a secret language.” Alice said calmly, taking a sip from her drink. 

“She’s my sist- are you drinking?” I pointed at the cup in glee as my sister rolled her eyes. 

“This is just Sprite.” She said, sloshing the cup in front of me, and I felt my face fall into disappointment. 

“Oh!” George was saying in recognition, “I knew your face looked familiar. You’re the friend that Ginny invited for Christmas!” 

Alice simply nodded while George looked between the two of us. I was still hugging my vodka bottle, and felt a little small standing between George and my sister. Alice had grown over the summer as well, but a lot less noticeably, and she was the same height as me now- if not taller. 

“Are you twins?” George’s voice was laden with surprise. Alice laughed loudly as I shook my head with a glum expression. It wasn’t that we particularly looked very alike- where Alice was long and skinny, I was a little stouter, and rounder. Her hair was darker than mine, a little bit of a warmer brownish blonde whereas mine was a whiter grey tone. She often wore round glasses that made her already huge eyes appear bigger, and the rest of her round face tinier. But once you knew we were related, we’d been told, you could never unsee it. We sounded and laughed exactly the same. We had the same mannerisms. And we always were telling the same sort of jokes. 

“No, I’m older.” I emphasised with a pat against my chest. Alice reached out to push my forehead slightly. 

“But I’m taller.” She said in a singsong way, and I pushed her back. 

“And more of a jerk.” I hissed teasingly. 

“At least I’m not a slut.”  
“Alice! I am not a slut!” I whined and stomped a little, and George let out a rambunctious laugh. 

“Looks like the holidays will be eventful, then.” He said with a grin, looking between the two of us. 

“Oh God, just wait until you meet our mom.” Alice said with a giggle. I began to giggle with her, thinking about how our family dynamics shocked people sometimes. 

“The three of us can be really awful, honestly.” I tacked on. 

“George, where’s Fred!” Peaches said suddenly, butting in to stand between George and I, pushing into his side slightly. George offered her a polite smile and moved slightly, bumping into Alice, who spilled some Sprite onto the sweater of the boy next to her. 

“Oh-- shit, sorry Neville.” She gasped, and I watched with amusement as both of their faces flushed when she moved to grab the spill. They stood there awkwardly until the boy said he’d go and get some paper towels, and she offered to go with him. 

“Behave yourself, Cimex. Don’t do anything I would do!” I called after her as they left, and she waved a dismissive hand towards me. 

“Fred uh- Fred didn’t know if he was really feeling up for it tonight. He hadn’t packet for the holidays yet, you know?” George was saying as I turned back into the conversion. He glanced between me and Peaches before Peaches let out a little exasperated sigh, gesturing to me. 

“Diana knows.” She said simply, and George’s entire demeanor changed. 

“What? Knows what? What does Diana know? How much does Diana know?” He started asking frantically, and Lee showed up then, holding two cups in his hands. 

“How much does Diana know about what?” He asked cheerfully as George grabbed one of the cups from his friend. 

“About Fred.” George hissed, turning away slightly as he downed half the cup, coughing a little aftwards. The color seemed to drain from Lee’s face, and he looked at me. 

“Oh god, how much do you know?” 

“Wait, what do you mean how much does she know?” Peaches spoke up. 

“Peaches,” I said patiently, “What’re they talking about.” 

She shrugged helplessly. I sighed, and opened my water bottle of vodka, taking a long sip. 

“Just- how much! Who told you? What’d they say?” George had placed the cup back in Lee’s hand and had moved to grab my shoulders, shaking me slightly. I looked up at him with wide eyes, mouth open in confusion, hugging the bottle to my chest again so it didn’t spill.

“What do you mean how much do I know? Ron just told me that Fred has a crush on me, and the whole school knows.”   
George let out a dramatic groan, smacking a hand to his forehead as he let go of me, looking over at Lee. 

“Ron!” He cried, and Lee shook his head in disappointment. I started to laugh at the dramatic antics of the two boys. 

“What is going on?” I said, “What more is there to know?” 

“Oh, man.” Lee said, still shaking his head, “There is so much you don’t know.”    
I felt my heart putter slightly, and the vodka burned in my cheeks. 

“Like what?” I pried, but the boys shook their hands at me. 

“Guys, come on, you can’t just put on a display like that and then not tell us!” Peaches whined, moving to tug on George’s sweatshirt sleeve. He tugged it away from her gently before sighing, and pushing a hand through his hair. The same way that Fred did, I noted. 

“We can’t tell you.” 

“We’re sworn to secrecy.” Lee Jordan mused happily. He seemed to be getting a lot more enjoyment out of the whole act than Peaches, who cried out unhappily, reaching out to tug at George once more. He looked at her, seeming a little bothered, and I finally pulled her back. 

“Peaches, maybe we can go and find Cedric and his friends, or something.” I mumbled into her ear, and George gave me an appreciative look. 

“I’m not done with you two.” I said to them sternly as Peaches muttered a sort of agreement. 

“No, I’m sure you’re not.” George said glumly. 

“Too bad Fred’s going to kill us when he finds out.” Lee pointed out gleefully.  
“Fucking Ron and his bloody big mouth.” George cried as we walked away from the two boys, who seemed to quickly replace us with a new group of girls who giggled at their approach. 

“That was ridiculous.” I scoffed, swirling the vodka in my hand before downing a good half of what was left. Peaches watched me carefully. 

“You know, Diana, maybe you should ease up. I mean, we only just got here.”

“Yeah, we only just got here and already George and Lee are acting super weird, Juliet’s off with a boy and Wilda-” I swung around, trying to spot out friend, who turned out to be in the dancing area, “Wilda’s already- wait she’s-” My drunken mind raced as I tried to register what I was seeing. I heard Peaches gasp beside me as she caught sight of what I was looking at. 

“Who’s that?” She said excitedly in my ear, tugging on my arm as we watched Wilda make out with a taller girl. 

“I think- Peaches, I think that’s Cho Chang.” I muttered drunkenly, suddenly really feeling how much vodka I’d actually drank. I swallowed thickly and looked at the bottle, closing it tightly. The forest was spinning a little, and I shook my head. 

“Wilda’s making out with Cho Chang?” Peaches was squeaking out, smacking my arm as she spoke. 

“Peaches- chill out.” I hissed, shoving her off. She gave me a small frown as I glanced around the clearing. “I think I need some water.” 

“Oh-” Realization dawned on Peaches’s face, and she looked around with me. “I know Cedric had a water bottle-” I grunted, shaking the one in my hand, but she shook her head, “No, dimwit, a water bottle with actual water in it. I thought I saw him-” She pointed suddenly, “There.”

Cedric was leaning against a tree, talking within a group of boys. I recognized a couple of them as Quidditch team kids, but I didn’t really keep up with sports, so I didn’t know any of their names besides Irving, who was standing quietly next to Cedric. He looked happy to see us. 

“Hi, girls!” he said brightly as we approached. Peaches pushed me in front of her. 

“Diana needs water.” She said curtly, looking anywhere but at Irving. The drama between the two of them faded into the background as Cedric’s face came close to mine, a worried smile painted across it. 

“Knew that bottle would come back to me eventually.” He said with a quiet laugh, taking it out of my hands and replacing it with a metal one. “That’s just water. You can have as much as you want. I have another one in my backpack.” 

I gave him an appreciative grimace, and chugged as much water as I could. It didn’t help much, but my stomach stopped churning so much, and my vision got a little less blurry. 

“Feel better?” Cedric asked cheerfully. I hadn’t realized that we’d been closed out of the conversation, but looking around I realized it was just the two of us now. I could hear Peaches’s bright laugh, and glanced over to see Irving with an arm around her waist, nuzzling into her neck. 

“That happened fast.” I muttered, and Cedric hummed brightly. 

“He’s been talking about her all night, actually.”

“But he got a drink for Wilda.” 

“But he isn’t really Wilda’s type, is he?” 

I gave him an incredulous look. 

“No way you knew.”   
“What do you mean?” 

I gestured over to the dancefloor, and Cedric caught sight of what I meant, letting out a soft little laugh. 

“Well, yeah. I did date Cho Chang for quite a while. We’re still good friends. Those two, though,” He gestured to where Wilda was practically eating Cho’s face, “They’re no good for one another.” 

I frowned. Somewhere in the back of my head, Juliet’s voice was hissing ‘never pass up on a guy who’s still on good terms with his ex’. The other part of my brain was yelling at me for not noticing that something had been going on with my friend. 

“I’m so confused. She talks about straight sex with Peaches all the time.”    
Cedric shrugged. 

“Sexuality is sort of dated, don’t you think?” 

I gave him a curious, drunken look, and he let out a small laugh, slinging an arm around my shoulder. 

“Oh, Diana, you really are daft sometimes.”    
I felt my face flush, and I crossed my arms defiantly. I was about to put up a fight, but Cedric pulled me closer, and I could smell his woodsy scent again, and I forgot what I was angry about. 

“Wanna go for a walk?” He mused, and I looked up at his face. He wasn’t looking at me, instead watching Irving and Peaches. His cheeks were red, and he seemed a little tense. 

“Yeah, okay.” I said simply. Part of me knew I probably shouldn’t. But the other part thought fuck it. You’re drunk. You probably fucked it up with Fred. I mean, his friends were making fun of me just moments ago. Maybe it’d been one big joke. Maybe I’d read too much into things. Fred’s angry eyes from yesterday flashed across my mind, but I shoved it down. It was probably actually nothing. Maybe Ron had no idea what he was talking about. 

My drunken brain rambled on as Cedric and I wandered out a little ways from the light of the bonfire. The warmth still reached out this far, which was nice, and Cedric pointed out I was still wearing my coat, which I laughed at. 

“You look like you’re ready to leave.” He pointed out. 

“Maybe I am.” I said simply, shrugging, and then tripping over my own feet. Or maybe a root. It was hard to tell in the darkness. And I was drunk. Like probably more drunk than I’d realized. Cedric caught me before I could fall, and I laughed nervously. 

“Do you want to go?” He asked gently, and I shook my head. 

“No we’re- we’re here to have a good time.” I said stubbornly. But I wasn’t feeling like I was having a good time. There were so many things swirling in my head, and all the thoughts shouting at me wouldn’t let me get a word in. I noticed Cedric looking at me, and I let out a little laugh. 

“Sorry.” I said. “I think I’m just kind of distracted tonight.”  
“It’s okay if you want to leave, Diana. Nobody will be mad at you.”   
I was startled by the comment, and rolled the words around in my head. Then I shook it. He was still holding me, I realized, and had gotten a lot closer than he’d been a minute ago. 

“I- no I don’t- I don’t want to leave I just-” I sighed, clutching at his hoodie slightly. He was wearing his dress shirt underneath it, and it just seemed like such a Cedric thing to do- wear your school shirt to a party. 

“Just?” He was a lot closer now, and I felt my brain going fuzzy. 

“Just um-” I swallowed thickly, and now his face was close, and his breath was fanning across mine again, and that sweet scent I’d noticed earlier was stronger. I wondered if it was a brand of gum he liked. 

“Um?” His voice was so soft, and his face was so close. I put a hand on his cheek tentatively, unsure if I wanted to push him away or pull him in. We stood like that in silence, and I watched as his eyes silently asked if this was okay, asked if I was able to say this was okay. 

“Oh, fuck it.” I mumbled, reaching to tug him closer by the collar of his sweater, our lips crashing together and Cedric letting out a little grunt. We stood like that awkwardly for a moment, my hands on his face and his on my elbows. 

Then I stepped backwards, curling my back into him, pressing us closer together. His hands finally left my arms, hovering around my waist questioningly. I pushed myself into him further, and let out a little noise. His hands gripped me then, holding me close to him. I moved my hands to wrap around his neck, and he pushed me back a little. I grunted slightly when my back collided with a tree, and he pulled back suddenly. 

“Are you okay?” He asked breathlessly, and I nodded wordlessly, going in to kiss him again. We stayed like that for a while, his hands just grasping at my hips as I bumped and pushed into him, against his groin, mashing our pelvises together. 

Eventually I pulled back, and he trailed small kisses around my jawline as I unzipped my jacket, tossing it to the ground as he reached under me. I let out a little excited giggle as I was hoisted into the air, wrapping my legs around his torso. Our lips connected again and I felt myself grow hot and excited by the position, grinding downwards on the lump I could feel forming in Cedric’s jeans. He let out a breathy sound, and the noise excited me, making me move more frantically, causing him to kiss me harder. 

He moved away to press small kisses to my neck again, and let a couple of fingers slip underneath my shirt. They were cold against my skin, and I shivered, gripping at his hair as he made his way up to my ear, nipping at it lightly. 

“Diana.” he breathed, and my heart raced. I wanted him close to me. That’s all I could think about. How warm and nice this all felt, how good his hands felt, sliding higher up my shirt- how nice his breath smelled, fanning my face again, biting at my lips. He pulled away slightly to look into my eyes, and I looked back, blinking up at him. Cedric let out a little rough sound, and kissed me again, and I was tugging a little at his hair, which made him more frantic, kissing harder. I opened my mouth, and the kissing became wet- hot and heavy, fighting for dominance. Sloppy. His fingers slid up higher, and brushed just below my breast. His breath hitched and he pulled away again. 

“No bra?” He said breathlessly and I giggled. 

“I never wear a bra.” I said cautiously. 

“Never?” The face Cedric made threw me into an actual fit of giggles. I shook my head against his. 

“No, Cedric, never.”   
He made a small strangled noise in the back of his throat before going in to attack my neck. I let out a little whimper as he nipped lightly, sucking and biting along my throat. 

“Hey-” I hissed, tugging on his hair a little rougher than before, “No marks above my neckline.”   
He looked up at me in surprise, and I felt my face grow warm. His hand trailed up underneath my shirt, moving to hold my neck gently, pulling my sweater and shirt up with it. I shivered as the cold air hit my exposed skin, and I could feel goosebumps prickling up everywhere. I huffed a little as he moved my face, studying my neck in the little light we had from the bonfire. 

“Too late.” He said gently, “Sorry.”   
I let out a gentle laugh, shaking my head and turning to pull him into a kiss again. 

“That’s a future Diana problem, I guess.” I mumbled against his lips, and he smiled into it, holding my chin in his hand as his other readjusted his grip on my hip, giving me more room to wiggle against him. 

And then we heard a twig snap. 

At first I figured it was probably just some creature, and went to ignore it. But Cedric pulled back anyway, and suddenly he was dropping my shirt, hastily pulling it back over me. I blinked down at it in surprise as he was letting me down gently, moving to step away from me slightly and pat his hair down. He seemed nervous, and I frowned at him. 

“Cedric, wha-” I muttered before realizing that someone else was present. I turned to see a shock of red hair and red converse. 

“Fred.” I literally squeaked, feeling my face flush brightly and then I, too, was tugging down at my sweater, combing some fingers through my hair. I cleared my throat as nobody said anything. “I uh- I thought you weren’t coming tonight.” 

Fred looked a little stunned. He was just standing, looking between the two of us. And then he looked angry, and his shoulders were creeping up to his shoulders, but this time it wasn’t in a shy way. At first I thought maybe he was going to hit something. And then I thought maybe he was going to hit Cedric. But then he simply straightened up again, as if he’d decided otherwise. He still hadn’t said anything. 

“Fre-”  
“I wasn’t.” Fred announced at the same time I decided to try again. I shrunk a little at the tone of his voice. I had never heard Fred Weasley sound so bored- so deadpan. “But then I got bored. Wanted to see if anything interesting was going on. Appears I was right.”   
Cedric sheepishly scratched at the back of his neck, looking between the two of us. 

“I think maybe I should go..” He said softly, and I snapped my gaze to him wildly. 

“Wait, what? Why?” I laughed a little as I stepped towards him, but Cedric shook his head, stepping out of my grasp, and then hurrying off towards the party. I watched his fading figure pathetically, angry at myself for letting this happen. I glanced at Fred briefly, and he was still staring at me. It was dark, but I didn’t need to see his eyes to know the hard, angry look in them. I had seen it before. 

We stood in silence for what seemed like forever. 

“I didn’t think you were coming tonight.” I finally said weakly. “I didn’t- Fred, I didn’t know- that you-” I tried to finish the sentence, but even with the vodka in my system, I felt weird and nervous at the idea of confronting him about his crush. I mean, what would I even say? Did I know how I felt about him? Did I know how I felt about anyone? 

“Don’t worry about it. You’re allowed to do whatever you want.” He said. His voice was still cold. I looked at him finally, and he looked a lot smaller than I had anticipated. A lot sadder. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.” 

And with that he left me alone, having to find my way back to the party through the dark woods by myself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew ok so   
> diana made a misTAKE  
> we will be at the burrow next time get excited


	11. Intermission: How Fred met Diana

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi ok just a little short thing as i start to work on the next half :)   
> here is how fred met diana & how the groupchat got made !! enjoy !

George had been the one who introduced them. 

The twins had been looking for a source of alcohol that wouldn’t require paying the Ravenclaw fourth year ridiculously high prices for his muggle connections. They knew that the Slytherin kids were getting it from somewhere else, and Fred had been on a mission since day one to find out where that was.   
“It’s our sixth year, for God’s sake,” Fred had ranted to George during their second week back at school, “We can’t let those Slytherin creeps throw parties for the rest of our time at this stupid school.”   
George had agreed hastily, and the two of them spent the next few days reaching out to ever smuggler and gossiper they’d gotten to know over the past six years of causing mischief at this school, desperately trying to figure out where it was the stupid Slytherin house kept their alcohol supply. 

“They’re probably just rich,” Lee Jordan pointed out as Fred mumbled and groaned though his Charms homework on a Saturday night, “They probably can just afford to pay more than we do.”   
George shook his head at the idea. 

“It’s definitely coming from somewhere in the castle. That’s what Katie pointed out. The bottles are unlabeled.” 

Fred nodded frantically at his brother. 

“Yeah, yeah it’s definitely not muggle shit. I bet there’s some sort of secret wine cellar that only Slytherins know about.” 

“Ooh,” Lee Jordan paused, tapping his chin, “That would make a lot of sense.”   
“I bet they have access to a whole bunch of cool stuff we don’t know about.” George grumbled, and Fred huffed in agreement. 

And then one day George found Fred in the hallway, leaving class, and pulled him close as they walked together to DADA class. 

“I found someone,” He hissed in his brother’s ear, “Who knows where it’s coming from.”   
“No way,” Fred said excitedly, bumping into George’s shoulder, “That’s incredible.”   
“I’m meeting her after class. By the Hufflepuff common room.” George said quickly as they entered the classroom, and Lupin gently reminded them that they were already not allowed to sit with one another during class. Fred nodded as he took his seat on the far left of the room, George seated on the far right. 

  
  
  


Fred hadn’t really been sure what he was expecting, but this tiny American girl in front of him was certainly not it. She seemed sort of standoffish, with her long messy blonde hair hanging in front of her face, and her arms crossed over her huge beige sweater. 

“Crabbe and Goyle.” She said simply to the two of them. Fred had to hold himself back from mimicking her accent childishly.

“Who?” George questioned, leaning against the wall next to her. She barely blinked, simply flicking some hair away from her face in a bored, nonchalant manner.   
“They’re third years. Slytherins. My friend Elliot knows them- apparently they make moonshine in one of the boy’s bathrooms.”  
“Moonshine?” Fred repeated doubtfully, crossing his arms, giving his brother a pointed glance. To his surprise, the girl huffed in exasperation. 

“Yeah, moonshine. Like the shit they made during the 1920’s? Kind of funny how they’re using a nomaj recipe, but I guess it gets the job done. Shit’s good. Can I have my chocolate now?” 

George whipped a chocolate bar out of his pocket, and the girl went to grab for it, but he held it out of her reach. 

“How do we  _ get _ the moonshine?” Fred said with a sigh when the girl gave them both a glare. 

“You _ask_ them, obviously. They’re pretty happy to share. “   
George frowned.   
“Are you sure? With Gryffindors? Seems unlikely.”   
She puffed her chest out a little. 

“Are you calling me a liar?”   
“Not a liar- just maybe a little ignorant on how things work here.” Fred said with a cheeky grin, and she rolled her eyes dramatically. 

“Well, they’re nice enough to me when I ask for some. I’m sure you guys could manage to strike up a fair deal.”   
George tutted. 

“We don’t make fair deals with Slytherins, love.”   
“Yeah, they’re our sworn enemy.” Fred added on in a defiant tone. The girl looked between the two of them with an incredulous expression, and then burst into a fit of giggles, and for the first time since he’d met her, Fred realized she was actually quite pretty. 

“That’s so dramatic. What is this, the 1740’s? They’re just some younger kids, ask them a little roughly and I’m sure they’d give you a bottle for free. You can find them shadowing that Malfoy kid.” 

“Malfoy?” George spat, and Fred snickered slightly. The girl looked a little taken aback at their reactions. 

“Yeah, Malfoy. That blonde guy? His hair is always like, way over done and-”   
“We know who Malfoy is.” Fred said gently. George folded his arms beside the girl, nodded silently. She glanced at where George held the chocolate bar sadly. 

“So just find Malfoy, and you find the guys, and then you can get your alc. Easy peasy. Can I  _ please _ have that chocolate bar?” Her tone got a little whiny, and George handed it over with a great sigh. 

  
  
  
  


It had turned out that she was right, in a way. 

George and Fred managed to get their hands on some of the Slytherin moonshine, now that they knew what they were looking for and who to ask. Happy with their efforts, the twins didn’t think of the girl again until Fred found himself in the library on his own. He wasn’t there to actually do anything productive, obviously, but he’d just needed to be by himself for a little while. He had his big headphones on, the ones that indicated to anyone that knew him not to bother trying to talk- as Fred would just bluntly ignore them, when he was in this sort of mood. 

He was sitting at one of the tables in the far back, doodling on a scrap piece of paper as the music blasted from his headphones, helping him keep his thoughts on track. And then he noticed some movement from the corner of his eye, and realized that the blonde girl had sat down a couple of seats down from him. She was joined by a taller girl with long, shiny black hair and soft features. The taller girl was giggling about something on her phone, and the blonde girl looked a little frustrated at the situation. Fred watched as the blonde sulked and pouted, much to her friend’s amusement. They both wore Hufflepuff colors, and Fred realized it hadn’t occurred to him that maybe that’s why it was so easy for the girl to be friends with a Slytherin. He looked hastily back at his notebook when he saw she was about to glance in his direction, and jumped when he realized another girl had sat down right next to him. He could hear that she was trying to say something, and he pulled his headphones down slightly, giving her a blank look. 

“Which one are you staring at?” The girl said in a cheeky whisper, resting her cheek in her hand. Her dark hair was cut into a messy short bob, and her nose was slightly crooked in the middle. 

“Uh- huh?” Fred said back lamely. She gestured to the two girls seated down the table. 

“Who were you looking at with that dopey expression?”

Fred felt his face turn bright red. 

“I wasn’t- I mean- I don’t know-”   
He stopped when she giggled, shaking her head. Then she stood up gracefully, and went to join the two girls, causing the blonde girl’s face to light up significantly. 

After then, Fred couldn’t get her out of his mind. He’d notice her everywhere- in the dining hall, at Quidditch matches, hanging around the hallways. After a while he found himself pausing in areas he’d seen her hang out around, keeping an eye out for her messy bed head hair. Her group of friends were usually loud, and hard to ignore, with cackling laughs and expressive exchanges. George noticed what was happening pretty quickly. 

“Her name’s Diana, by the way.” He said softly one day during study hall, after Fred caught his eyes slipping in her direction one too many times. 

“Huh?” 

“The American- her name’s Diana.” George reiterated patiently, as if speaking to a child. Fred looked down at his notes, shaking his head. 

“Okay? Why do I care?”   
“Uh- because you like her mate.” Lee Jordan piped up from in front of them. Fred let out a soft laugh.   
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Fred, we walked past the Hufflepuff common room twice today.” George pointed out. 

“So?” 

“We _never_ walk past the Hufflepuff common room.”  
Lee Jordan nodded. 

“It’s pretty out of the way.” He added on. Fred looked between the boys impatiently. 

“I don’t even know her. How could I like someone I don’t even know.”    
George shrugged dismissively. 

  
  


When it was time for the Halloween dance, Fred had briefly considered asking Diana. The thought was gone as soon as it came, though, when Angelina walked into the Gryffindor common room, smiling her bright smile at him. They’d go as a group, she suggested to him and George, and they agreed without any fuss. The dance was fun, as they usually were, and they got pretty hammered thanks to the Slytherin moonshine. But Fred kept finding his eyes drawn to the blonde girl in the corner, giggling with her friends at something a taller, curly haired boy was saying. Eventually Fred was alone at the punch bowl, and the short haired girl was at his elbow again. 

“I’m Wilda, by the way.” She said a matter of factly, and Fred was confused as to why this younger girl was speaking to him. “-I’m best friends with Diana. Juliet,” She gestured to the taller girl standing beside Diana, who Fred noticed was now glancing at the two of them curiously, “-has also noticed you looking at us.” 

Fred’s palms got a little sweaty, but he kept his cool, giving the girl a teasing look. 

“You guys seem awfully excited that someone’s noticed your group of friends is super bloody loud.”   
She returned the teasing look, and Fred felt a little out of his element. 

“Not just somebody, Fred Weasley.” 

And then she walked away. 

  
  
  


By the time it was getting close to the holidays, Fred had managed to have a couple of passing conversations with Diana and her friends. They’d shown up at a party or two, mostly by chance, and there had been passing ‘hello’s. Fred learned her third friend was named Peaches, that they were all in Hufflepuff, that Diana used to date everyone’s plug, Judas Horn. 

“She’s sort of the reason he got into it,” Juliet had drunkenly hissed to Fred one night as he and George surveyed the party from one of the Ravenclaw couches, “But nobody’s supposed to know that.”   
Eventually, Fred found out from Diana’s friends that she was having a rough go of it, but that she never really talked about why. Peaches had told him between flirtatious quips at George that Diana really needed someone to take care of her right now, and that it would be ‘absolutely splendid’ if that person could be him. They had ran into one another at the Three Broomsticks one Saturday afternoon, while Diana was off hanging out with ‘some boys, doesn’t matter’, according to Juliet. 

“Maybe you guys could set me up with her, then.” Fred had suggested slyly, and George had clapped him on the back. 

“Yeah! Then maybe I could finally get my brother back, instead of this gross pining mess he’s been replaced with.”   
“We would love to set you up with Diana, Fred.” Wilda had said haughtily over her tea. 

“Oh, oh! We should make a groupchat!” Peaches had cried, clinging to George’s arm. He gave her an awkward smile and carefully took her hands off of him. 

“That’s a good idea.” He said, and Fred felt his face grow warm.   
“Wait- I meant that as a joke.” 

But Juliet was shaking her head, already tapping something into her phone. 

“Numbers, please.” She said quickly as she held her phone out to the two of them. Fred took it with hesitation, glancing at his brother, who looked more than happy at the prospect of finally getting some sort of movement in Fred’s love life. 


	12. Aftermath

I grimaced as Juliet held my chin roughly, dabbing a sponge soaked in makeup at my neck. It hurt slightly, and I was surprised just how much the bruises stung after being awoken this morning. 

Lilly had been the one to wake me up, bouncing my bed a little as she sat on in and shook me until I groaned and whined and pushed her hands away. 

“If you don’t get up soon you’re going to miss the train, Diana.” My roommate had told me, and I sat up quick enough that the spinning in my head took a second to catch up to me. I slapped a hand to the ache between my eyes and squeezed them shut, barely registering Lilly’s sharp gasp. 

“I mean, I’d heard you made off with Cedric last night, but I didn’t know it was like  _ that  _ between you two.” My roommate cried, causing our fourth roommate, a small quiet girl named Milda, to saunter over and peer at me as well. I opened my eyes to shoot a glare at them as the memories from last night pounded into my head. The familiar guilt was settling in, but this time I knew why, and that there was nobody to blame but myself. 

“What’re you guys talking about?” Aurora had asked, also coming over to check out my neck. I watched her face grow pale and hard. “Cedric did that?” She had asked in a small voice, and Lilly’s harsh laugh broke out. 

“Well of course Cedric did that. He’s only been thirsting for her ever since he broke up with Cho.”   
I had watched with a panic as Aurora hurried out of the room, collecting her things without a glance, barely whispering a goodbye as she slammed the door behind her. 

“Jesus, what’s got her knickers in a twist.” Milda had said haughtily as she finished the rest of her packing. 

“She has a crush on Cedric.” I’d told them with a sour expression. By that point I’d gotten out of bed and was shoving whatever seemed important into a big duffle bag. Milda had turned her nose up at the thing as Lilly snickered in response. 

“Sad, innit, a girl like her thinking she could get with a guy like him.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I’d said through gritted teeth as I struggled to zip the bag closed. 

“Well, it’s obvious, ain’t it? Aurora’s just so… Plain. And well, Cedric’s right bloody fit.”  
“Gorgeous, more like.” Milda added, swooning slightly. I looked between the two of them. 

“Aurora’s pretty, though.” I had said helplessly, dropping my bag on the floor carelessly as I hurried to put my hair up. 

“Yeah, sure, she’s fine looking. But she’s no  _ you _ , Diana. You and Cedric have like, total it couple potential, you know what I mean?” Lilly had drawled. She had sounded so passe, as if what she was saying wasn’t completely harmful to another girl’s self esteem. 

_ Is that what we sound like? _ I’d found myself wondering as I kept my head still for Juliet. Peaches had insisted that Irving sit with us, and he was squished awkwardly between her and Wilda as the two girls recounted their steps the night before, Juliet occasionally adding things or filling in gaps. 

“Are we mean?” I found myself asking suddenly, and Peaches paused in her squealing rant about how Irving finally worked up the courage to kiss her. Juliet pulled back, halting the concealing of my battle wounds as silence fell upon the group. 

“Like, are we the mean girls? Do we think we’re, like, better than everyone else?” My voice sounded so much smaller than I’d anticipated, and suddenly everything was overwhelming. 

“Why would you ask that?” Juliet was asking me softly, and I could feel a weird sob building up in my throat. I shook my head, trying to find the words to explain what exactly was going on right now, but nothing was coming up. It was as if everything that had happened over the past year had been held back by a damn, and seeing the hurt in Fred’s eyes last night was the hairline crack that finally caused it to break. 

“Diana..” Wilda was saying softly, and moved to kneel in front of me as Juliet wrapped an arm around my shoulders. 

“I just feel like I’m mean.” I whispered to my hands, clenching them into tight fists. My head pounded as the train rattled around me, and I could feel bile bouncing up and down my throat. 

“You were drunk- you just made a mistake, that’s all.” Wilda said in a gentle tone, resting her hands upon mine. And then Peaches made a small noise and we all looked at the compartment window to see Fred and George peeking in. I caught Fred’s eyes for literally a split second, and suddenly my eyes were leaking and I didn’t know how to stop them. His face was so cold, his stare was so empty, and then he had turned and continued walking. George, it seemed, had been ready to slide the door open and say hello. He was looking between the door handle and where I assumed would be Fred’s retreating figure, before finally pulling the thing open and stepping in. 

“Hey guys.” He said brightly, as if the awkward encounter hadn’t just happened. And then his eyes fell on me and seemed to widen as he saw for the first time what was really going on. “Uh- oh, damn, Sterling, are you okay?” 

The kindness in his voice pulled out a shallow laugh-sob from my throat. I tried to nod but felt my face contort into a pout as the tears wouldn’t stop no matter how much I tried to hold them back. I held my breath, squeezing my eyes shut, and then after a moment let out a harsh laugh, shaking my head. I took in a deep breath and opened my eyes as Juliet shifted to let Wilda slide in on my other side. I was surprised to see that George had taken the seat across from me. 

“You’re not going to sit with-” I trailed off, gesturing vaguely to the door before pulling my sweater sleeve down, using it to wipe at my face in a childish manner. George offered me a shy smile, and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. 

“He’s a big boy. He’ll be okay without me for this one train ride.” 

Irving looked between George and me, and then glanced at Peaches. She patted his arm absently as Juliet rubbed my back in comforting circles and Wilda continued to try and calm me down. 

“I’m totally fine, you guys!” I exclaimed, voice cracking and pushing my tears away angrily, “I don’t know why I’m crying. I think it’s just the hangover.” 

“You did seem pretty out of it last night.” George was saying matter of factly, obviously trying to lighten the mood. He winced a little as Juliet sent him a stern look, but smiled when I laughed. 

“I was so drunk.” I spit out, sniffling and rubbing at my face with my sleeves. I could feel the feelings subside a little, and embarrassment washed over me. “Fuck, I am sorry guys.” 

“It’s okay babes.” Peaches was saying, moving so that she could put her hands on my knee, “You have stuff going on. Nobody’s blaming you for going a little crazy sometimes.” 

“You have stuff going on?” Irving repeated lamely, and everyone burst into awkward giggles, letting the tension in the room dissipate. I let out a great deep breath as everyone calmed down, and shook hair into my eyes. 

“God, I’m not looking forward to seeing my mom.” I muttered, and Juliet let out a little scoff, pushing the hair away from my neck to resume what she was doing. 

“Bloody hell, who  _ ate _ you?” George exclaimed, causing Peaches to burst right back into peals of laughter. 

“You mean you don’t know?” Wilda said with a deadpan tone, leaning back and settling into her new seat. 

“No? Should I know? It wasn’t Fred, was it?” 

“Nope, but he sure did stumble upon it.” Juliet muttered as she started to dab harder. 

“Ow- Jesus, Juliet.” I pulled away from her a little, and she sighed, frowning at me. 

“I give up. I think that’s as good as it’s going to get.” She said, moving to put away her makeup bag. I grabbed my phone and assessed the job in the camera. 

“My mom is going to kill me.” I whispered to my face. Wilda laughed lightly as George looked between the four of us. 

“Seriously, who did that? My mum’s going to want to know.” 

“Your mum?” Peaches questioned as I let out a little whine, slumping backwards. 

“She likes to know all the gossip.” George informed us with a small smile. I glowered at him, using a hand to rake more hair in front of my face again. 

“It was Cedric.” Juliet finally let him know, and the boy’s mouth dropped open. 

“Diggory?”

“Seriously, guys, is there another Cedric in this fucking school.” I exclaimed, and everyone looked surprised at my outburst. 

“You know, Peaches, I think I’m going to go find the sweets trolley.” Irving mumbled into the brief silence that followed. 

“I’ll go with you!” She cried, grasping at his arm as he stood to leave. He offered her a shy smile, and simply nodded, pink coloring his cheeks.

“Who was that guy?” George whispered jokingly as the door slid shut, and Wilda moved to take the place that had opened beside the boy. 

“Greg Irving.” Juliet supplied again, flipping some hair behind her shoulder as she went to check her phone, “He’s in your year, I think. Chaser for the Hufflepuff team?” 

“Oh!” George said, recognition coloring his tone. “I didn’t know his name. But he did look familiar- I guess that’s a little embarrassing.” 

“What, that you guys have a tendency to keep to yourselves? We been known that, Weasley.” Wilda chided, looking down at her phone as well, slumping low and holding the device close to her face. They left George and I sitting alone in the silence, awkwardly not looking at one another. 

“-Makes sense why Fred’s been so moody today, I guess.” The boy said after a moment of twiddling his thumbs, not looking up at me as he spoke. Wilda grunted a little, and I let out a small huff, before clambering to sit up straight, leaning forward towards George. 

“Did I ruin the holidays?” I asked him with a grimace, and he laughed a little as he glanced up at me. There was a moment where it seemed like he was considering, and I winced, scrunching my nose. “Fuck, I did, didn’t I? Fred’s going to be a fucking dick about this, isn’t he? Ugh,  _ fuck _ .” I dropped my face in my hands, feeling the overwhelming sensation from before come creeping into my stomach. Spending Christmas with a bunch of strangers was hard enough, but now I knew there was one of those strangers that straight up didn’t like me. I pressed the palms of my hands into my eyes, rubbing them angrily. Then I felt a large hand land on the top of my head, and I looked up to see George a lot closer than he had been a second before. 

“It’ll be okay. I’ll talk to him. Promise.”

  
  


My mother is a character. 

That’s the only way to describe her, really. Alice had once commented that someone should just follow her around, writing down all of the things she said and all the stories she had to tell. She was the only wizard out of eight kids, and her mother had died when mom was still pretty young, and thus her childhood had been so wrought with chaos it was hard to believe she came through the other side even minutely sane. My parents had met in muggle London, sitting in a muggle cafe, and neither one had realized the other was a wizard until the second or third date, when my dad got drunk and mentioned going to the Leaky Cauldron without thinking, to which my mother had gasped and agreed. 

She was pretty young to have kids our age, and is still pretty hot, I’d been informed by friends. Her blonde curls were cut short and bounced around her round face, which lit up with a huge grin when she finally caught sight of me in the crowd. 

“Diana!” She cried, opening her arms and wrapping me tight into her embrace. Alice definitely got her height from mom, and so my face was perfectly aligned with her chest, and I groaned and grumbled in response, pushing her away and gasping for air. 

“Jeeeesus, mother.” I cried, flushing as I realized George had trailed up behind me. She glanced at him curiously, offering a questioning smile before catching sight of something behind him. 

“Alice, oh, my baby!” Mom was saying, barrelling past George to repeat her attack on Alice, who’s height kept her from the suffocation I’d endured.   
“Good god, woman.” Alice cried as she tried to wiggle away, “What do you think you’re doing?” Our mom laughed, shaking her head as she released my sister, stepping back to look at the two of us. 

“Diana, what on  _ earth _ are you wearing?” She said finally, eyeing my oversized and baggy outfit with a look of distaste. I grumbled, crossing my arms, rolling my eyes. George was still standing awkwardly between Alice and I, looking between the three of us quietly. 

“Mom,” I said loudly, “-this is George. Weasley? Like, one of the kids we’re going to be staying with?” I gestured at him, and the tall boy gave an awkward wave. My mom looked him up and down. 

“Well, aren’t you handsome.” She said teasingly, and Alice groaned dramatically, shaking her head and patting George on the shoulder. 

“Don’t mind her. Grief has made her horny. She flirts with anything taller than six foot.”

“Foot?” George repeated with a confused smile as my mom gasped in shock, going to smack Alice lightly on her arm. The girl grinned and laughed and stepped quickly to hide behind George. 

“I’m also here!” Ginny’s voice came from where Alice had been standing, and the group paused to look at her. “I’m Ginny. Weasley.” She said confidently, sticking her hand out to my mom. Mom shook it with a laugh. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Ginny. Shall we find the rest of your family?”

Ginny nodded, going to tug on Alice’s arm as she stood on her tiptoes, presumably to scan the crowd for the rest of the Weasley clan. 

“They’re right over there.” George supplied after watching his sister in amusement, pointing towards the end of the train platform, where the group of redheads were easily seen clustered, obviously looking around for the missing members. 

“Oh, there you two are.” George’s mom was a short, round woman, with a flushed face and orange curls down to her shoulders. I assumed the man behind her was their dad, whose outfit was questionable, at best, and his own red hair receding a little at the top. The woman tutted and fussed over her two children, pulling them into tight hugs and kissing their cheeks, before rounding to look at the three of us. Alice and I blanched a little at being under her attention, and glanced at one another nervously. 

“You must be the Sterlings. I’ve heard so much about you!” She exclaimed, going to give my mom a hug and kiss on the cheek. My mom returned the gesture warmly. 

“It’s really so kind of you to let us stay. We were somewhat at a loss this year.” My mom was saying, and I flushed at the way some of the kids looked at us curiously. Ginny seemed to know what my mom meant, nodding a little as her mom was assuring mine that it was really no big deal, that she was more than happy to have us, that she was excited to get to know Ginny’s good friend. 

“And you must be Diana!” The woman had turned to me after greeting Alice in kind, insisting that we call her Molly. 

“Yeah.” I said awkwardly, sticking my hand out for her to shake. Molly frowned at it, laughing a little as she pushed it away, going in for a hug. But I flinched slightly, and she pulled back in surprise. She went to shake my hand, instead. 

“Diana has a weird thing about hugs.” Alice supplied loudly, causing the twins to snicker as I felt my face warm up. I glanced at the two boys, and George seemed kind enough to return the look. But Fred kept his eyes on my sister, refusing to look my way. I felt a knot tangle in my stomach. 

“Oh, dear, I’m sorry for assuming, I-” Molly was saying, but I let out an awkward little laugh, waving my hands hurriedly. 

“It’s not a big deal. I’m just awkward about physical contact.” I tried to explain, ignoring how Fred muttered something under his breath, causing Ron to snicker slightly. I felt my face grow hot and tugged at a piece of my hair, bringing the end up to my mouth to chew on frantically. 

“What the fuck is on your neck.” Alice was hissing as the group of us walked briskly towards the Leaky Cauldron. Muggle London was familiar to Alice and I, and so we were walking far in front, bumping shoulders slightly. She’d leaned in a little to whisper in my ear, and I shoved her away with my elbow before going to draw more hair over my shoulders, raking my fingers through it, trying to cover up the bruises. 

“Nothing.” I muttered. 

“Diana, you look like a vampire victim.”   
I shot her a glare. 

“Seriously, Alice, leave it alone.” 

She gave me a quiet glare back, before huffing and going to fish for something in her backpack. 

“Vanishing concealer.” She informed me as she pressed a small jar into my hand, “Use it before mom notices. You know how she gets about meeting new people.” 

“I know.” I cried, sighing dramatically as we rounded a corner, the Leaky Cauldron finally coming into view. “I tried my best to cover it up. I’d tried my best to  _ avoid _ it.” I flinched at how whiney I sounded while Alice huffed a little, shaking her head in disappointment. 

“Told you you’re a slut.” 

“I am not a slut!” I cried, albeit a little more dramatically than intended, and started when a snicker came from behind us. I swung around to witness Fred murmuring something to Ron, whose face was red and grin shit eating. 

“I’m not!” I exclaimed again, glaring at the two of them stubbornly. George walked quickly to push past and join Alice and I, sidling up next to me as I turned back around, crossing my arms in frustration. 

“Don’t mind them.” George was saying gently, and I sensed Alice glancing back as well, sticking her tongue out at the boys. “Fred’s just jealous. It’ll take him a couple of days, but he’ll stop being a dick soon.”


	13. Crying Again?

I wasn’t sure if I would last, with Fred mad at me. Actually, I was pretty sure he was going to kill me at some point.

Well, maybe not kill. But seriously maim. Not on purpose, obviously, but with the way things were carrying on during only the  _ first afternoon _ was pretty insane.

First, he’d tried to hijack my floo trip, having thrown some extra powder in and yelling something I couldn’t make out as I called out for the Burrow. I’d felt the floo push and get confused, whipping me down all sorts of paths before finally spitting me out into a cramped and cluttered living room. Relief washed over me as I was welcomed in by Mr.Weasley, who’d floo’d there first. Molly had smacked Fred upside the head, Alice informed me when she arrived, and they’d all found it rather funny. I hadn’t, huffing and puffing when he showed up, refusing to look his way.

Then, he enchanted my bed to kick me off it anytime I tried to sit down. I’d found myself slamming into an old dresser when George brought Alice and I up to his older brother Charlie’s empty room. The thing had knocked the window out of me, and I coughed and sputtered as Alice and George helped me to my feet. Fred was hurrying from the doorway when I was finally able to catch my breath. George had offered me a half assed apology, and promised to try and talk some sense into him.

And now we were being called to dinner, and I was tired. George had managed to keep Fred away from me for most of the time in between, but the tension between us had quickly become apparent to everyone. Ginny prodded Alice with questions, my sister had told me, but she said she didn’t really want to know, nor did she care about what was going on. Ron was pretty tuned in, and pretty obviously on Fred’s side, snickering and muttering to him whenever I entered or left a room. Mom and Molly seemed amused by the drama, and cornered me as we all surrounded around the table.

“You can sit here, dear.” Molly announced as I awkwardly stood off to the side, gazing at the heapings of home made food and mismatched tableware. I smiled gratefully and noted Fred growing white from down the table, glancing between me and the chair that Ginny was moving to sit in.

“No, Ginny, don-” Fred yelled, but it was too late, and Ginny had already fallen through the chair, which seemed to crumble into Legos, literally the floor where she sat, stunned.

“Frederick Gideon Weasley!” Molly roared, making Alice and I jump and glance sheepishly at our own mother, who seemed mildly amused by the whole display, “We have guests! What on earth were you thinking?”

“He obviously wasn’t, mum. Hasn’t been for months now.” George grumbled from where he sat next to the boy, already spooning potatoes onto his plate. I couldn’t tell if he was grumpy from his brother’s actual behavior, or from being excluded from it.

“It wasn’t meant for Ginny, mum, I swear.” Fred was saying, his face contorted with guilt as Ginny stood up glumly, rubbing at her bottom.

“Fred- I am ashamed. Disappointed. You take your plate and go eat in your room. And we won’t have any more acting out like this.” Molly was saying sternly, going to plop food on the boy’s plate, and pinching his ear slightly. Fred winced and whined, but ultimately accepted the heaping plate of food, pushing his chair out loudly and stomping up the stairs.

“Well- I’m sorry about that.” The woman announced into the awkward silence that followed, beaming down the table as she approached to sit down in the chair across from me. I stiffened slightly, nervous and awkward as Mr. Weasley drew Alice into conversation at the other side of the table. I glanced at her, trying to telepathically tell her to speak louder, to grab everyone’s attention, but she only seemed to capture Ron and Ginny, leaving the woman and George to create conversation towards me.

“What’s going on between you two, then?” Molly was saying brightly as she served me some food.

“Oh- um..” I said quietly, glancing at George for help. He sighed, food still in his mouth as he began to explain to his mother what exactly was going on.

“Diana- you were partying last night!” My mom exclaimed as George went on, Molly shushing him at one point and directing him to finish his food before he opened that mouth again.

“I- I mean- well, yeah.” I said lamely before shoving some food into my own mouth. We two teenagers then continued to dodge around the questions and quips from the two women for what felt like hours.

“Why don’t you date my Freddie? He really is a sweet boy, when you get to know him.” Molly was saying enthusiastically.

“He is quite cute. All your kids are, Molly.” My mom added on.

George was grimacing, cheeks puffed out slightly from the large bites he’d been taking in a quick pace.

“-eah Diana, just go out with Fred already.” The boy was saying as he chewed. Molly smacked his shoulder lightly, causing him to choke. I felt my face burning up to my ears, and I couldn’t actually find anything to say to the three of them.

“He did seem quite excited about the idea of you coming for the holidays, you know. I’d been under the assumption you two were good friends.”

“They were-” George supplied cheerfully, and I narrowed my eyes at him, “Until Diggory came into the picture.”

“Oh, Amos’s son?” Molly said brightly, then clapped a hand to her chest and sighed a little, “I don’t blame you then, Diana, that boy is dreamy.”

“Mum.” George blanched, and my mom laughed from her seat next to me.

“How’s school though, Diana?” She asked softly, as George and his mother continued a back and forth. I sighed, slumping slightly, pushing some food around my plate.

“Fine.” I muttered, and my mom made a small sound in the back of her throat.

“Just fine? How’re your grades? Am I going to be disappointed?”

“They’re  _ fine _ .” I reiterated impatiently. It wasn’t like my mom was actually going to see my grades. She never did. Never remembered to care enough by the time I got them, and I never chose to mention it. “How’re you though, mom? Where’ve you been staying?”

I watched curiously as her face flushed and contorted awkwardly. My stomach twisted and my chest got tight.

“Oh, good god.” I groaned, dropping my fork and throwing up my hands, “You did  _ not  _ get back with David.”

“He’s different this time, Diana, I promise.” She insisted, nudging me a little with her elbow. I crossed my arms, staring at the plate. David was my mom’s on and off again boyfriend of the past couple years. Alice and I had really hoped we’d seen the last of him when he kicked us out last summer after claiming that I was too much of a brat for him to be able to handle. But he always seemed to find a way to weasel himself back into my mom’s life, furthering the wedge between my mom and I. I felt a little sick, and frowned at the food, loosing my appetite. So fuck. Here I was, trapped in this place that felt so far away from home for me, with a boy angry over something he really didn’t have the right to be angry over, and a mom who would spend the whole time on the phone, pushing me out of her life.

“Seriously, Diana. God, you know, Alice understands. I can’t see why you won’t!” My mom wrung her hands a little towards me as I continued being silent, glaring at my food. George and his mother had grown silent, watching our exchange.

“Not liking my cooking, Diana?” Molly said in a teasing tone, and I felt slightly embarrassed, feeling my ears burn as I sat up again, picking up my fork and shaking my head hurriedly.

“No, ohmigosh, this is incredible Molly, really. Thank you so much for having us.” I flashed her a tense smile, and she returned a more genuine one.

“If you need to leave the table, Diana, you’re more than welcome to.” She said in a soft tone, and I felt a slight distrust at her words. I shook my head again stubbornly.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m just being a dramatic teenager.” I said with a little laugh before taking a great bite out of the fish she’d made. Molly made a small noise, as if to say ‘if you’re sure’, and turned to comment on something Ron was saying. I ignored my mom’s guilty glanced, and George’s blatant staring at me as I hurriedly finished the rest of my plate, muttering thank yous as I got up when done, going to rinse the plate and leave it with the enchanted dishwashing objects, which were already done with the pots and pans Molly had used to cook. 

Charlie’s room was pretty empty of personal items. 

George had informed Alice and I about how Charlie was in Romania, and he rarely came home to visit. It was a touchy subject with his mom, he said, but apparently Charlie and Percy had had some sort of blowout fight a couple of years ago, and the older brother hadn’t come home since. So the room slowly became more of a guest room, accommodating various different friends and visitors and loosing a sense of who had actually lived in the room beforehand. 

I let out a long sigh when I finally closed the door behind me quietly. I slid down it to sit with my knees pulled into my chest, resting my chin on top of them, staring thoughtlessly at the ground in front of me. I wasn’t panicking, or feeling overwhelmed, just a little… Numb, maybe. It was probably the hangover. I missed home. There was a little splatter of paint on the wooden floor, and I picked at it as my mind idly went over thoughts I’d been avoiding having, while out and in front of people. It was nice, though, to have a moment to myself. It was something hard to come by, what with Aurora always being in our room, and usually having to share a room with at least my sister, if not both her and my mom whenever we stayed at someone’s house. But mom would be staying in Bill’s room, we’d been told, and Alice had bounced around the idea of sleeping in Ginny’s room instead of with me. 

I didn’t realize I wanted to cry until I found the feeling welled up and tucked tightly beneath my throat. I frowned deeply, biting my lip that had begun to tremble as I thought about sleeping in an empty room. It was quiet in Charlie’s room, all the way up on the top floor, and I wondered what sort of person he was, to have such a bare childhood room. To spend so much time so far away. I thought about dragons, picking at the paint until it was gone, and willed the lump in my throat to go away. I turned to rest my cheek on my knees, pulling my phone out and sliding through my music. I put on my travelling playlist, and sat with my eyes closed, arms wrapped around my legs as I focused on the lyrics and melody rather than acknowledging my own stream of thoughts. I stayed like that for a while, probably an hour or so, going by how many songs I listened to, until a knock on the door shocked me out of my weird stupor. I unfolded myself and reached up from the floor to open the thing, getting up only to my knees, peaking around it curiously. I was met with two skinny legs, and then George’s face leaned down to meet mine. 

“Are you crying again?” He said cheerfully, and I pulled a face at him. 

“No.” I said in an exasperated tone. He chuckled, standing back up and looking down at me on the floor carefully. His hands were in his jean pockets, and his orange sweater hung on his form loosely. He was wearing a dangly earring today, making it even more evident that he was George. 

“Want some company? Fred’s giving me the silent treatment for being nice to you.” He said the last part glumly, slouching slightly at the admittance. I stared at him for a moment before opened the door wider and letting him in. He glanced around as he did so, and I closed the door, turning to sit against it again. 

“Is he always like this?” I grumbled, hugging my knees to my chest again, turning the music down slightly as I did so.

“Fred? Well, not exactly. He’s always been dramatic, if that’s what you mean. Sometimes I think maybe just consumed all the emotions in the womb, and so he gets to be emotional for the both of us.” George offered a closed mouth smile as he leant against the edge of the bed, hands still in his pockets, shoulders still slightly hunched. It was weird, how when the two of them were together, Fred seemed so sure of himself. So loud and cocky, while George was quieter, always following Fred’s lead. But when getting them alone, it sort of seemed like maybe George was the more confident one- a little more at ease in himself, a little more relaxed where Fred seemed like a jolty, anxious mess at times without his brother. At least, that’s what I’d gathered, from the little interaction I’d had with the two. Fred was so hot headed, so quick to jump to things. The idea of being around him gave me a headache. But George was calming. Like a dad. 

I frowned at the thought, willing it away. Now was not the time for daddy issues. 

As the silence between us grew longer, George slowly got to the floor as well, folding his legs and leaning back on his hands, leveling me with an unreadable look. 

“What’s this song?” He asked in a careless tone, and I let out a little ‘huh?’ in response before realizing that there was something new playing. 

“Oh- um,” I glanced at my phone, “I remember, by Molly Drake. I like the lyrics.” I felt a little dumb, nervous under George’s gaze. 

“You remember what?” George replied, and I blinked. 

“No like, that’s the name of the song.” 

“What’s the name of the song?” 

“I Remember.” 

“You already told me you remember, what’s the song name?” 

I opened my mouth to reply, but seeing George’s playful grin, I realized that he was teasing me. I huffed, going to hide my face in my arms. George laughed in response. 

“I like it, though. It’s not something I would have listened to on my own, but I think I’d listen to it again.” He said after another lull in the conversation. I peeked up at him, and he was still giving me an easy smile, face carefully unreadable. 

“What sort of music do you listen to, then?” 

George hummed, pushing his mouth to the side as he looked upwards in thought. 

“Rap, mostly. But like, easy going rap. Rapping over jazz type stuff.” He explained carefully, still looking at the ceiling. I glanced up with him, and realized Tibetan prayer flags were strung across it.

“Do you miss him?” I asked suddenly, and he gave me a curious look. 

“Charlie, you mean?” 

I nodded, and he shrugged a little. 

“I guess, yeah. The way you’d miss an older brother. But he’s like, six years older than us. Was always more of a babysitter than a brother, if that makes sense.”   
“Yeah.” I said simply, “That makes sense.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i seriously have no idea whats going on anymore  
> like why is fred being so mean?? why does diana like every boy but him?? and just you WAIT until bill shows up cause thats gonna be-   
> anyway i liked writing about the moms. theyre heavily based on my own mom experiences. have you ever had a mom try to encourage you to date their kid cause ????? its so awkward omg   
> like cute  
> but awwwwwkward   
> esp when they have a cuter older brother lmAO


	14. Hot-Headed

The next two days passed quickly. Fred had spent most of it avoiding me, walking out of a room while I walked in, ignoring me while I spoke, sitting at the other end of the table during dinnertime. But I had George for company, and Alice and Ginny when they were feeling like it. George showed me around the fields the Burrow resided on, letting me into their ‘boy’s only’ tree house Bill had built when he was fifteen for the rest of them, showing me various different projects he and Fred were working on.

But then on the third day, Fred resumed to his fucking antics. It was Sunday, in the afternoon, and apparently Bill was supposed to arrive before dinnertime. I was helping Molly and my mom in the kitchen as they made dinner, and George was keeping us company, telling Molly about some prank he and Fred had pulled successfully on Snape. Molly was laughing about it, making my mom laugh about it, even though she kept asking stupid questions and not really listening to what George was saying. The exchange was kind of bothering me, but like, in the way only your mom could bother you. So I was already a little irritated when Fred sauntered in, hands in his pockets, crew neck sweater looking a little sooty and singed at the bottom. George paused in his story to greet his brother, who simply nodded back and sat down at the table heavily. 

I paused in what I was doing. It was the first time Fred and I had been in the same room besides sitting at the table for meals, and I glanced at him, wondering what he could possibly be up to. He met my eye this time, and I felt my face grow hot under the expressionless look he gave me. My mood soured even more than it had been, and I glared at him before going back to chopping carrots. 

“What’s for dinner?” Fred asked the room. 

“Chicken and veggies with rice- it’s Diana’s mom’s recipe.” Molly said brightly. Fred snorted, which made my blood boil. 

“I’m not eating that.” He said rudely. Molly paused to look at her son incredulously. 

“Excuse me?” She said in a low tone, and Fred shrugged nonchalantly. I could see from the corner of my eye that he was still looking at me as he spoke. 

“I’m not eating anything that slut makes.” 

“Okay, what _the fuck_ .” I finally exclaimed, slamming the knife down and rounding on him. “Are you fucking serious? You’re going to insult your own _mother’s_ \- hell, my fucking mom’s cooking- because you’re angry about some drunken mistake? Are you fucking serious?” I felt angry tears coming on, but they disappeared when my mom moved to smack the back of my head lightly. 

“Language, nox.” She chided, before resting a hand on my shoulder and turning to look at Molly, who seemed just as shocked as I was by my outburst. The woman looked between the two of us, Fred having leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and keeping his face carefully still. George had ducked so that his hair hid his face, leaning close to the table and scrolling through his phone, his leg bouncing quickly. I felt hot and embarrassed about letting my emotions control me, and shrugged off my mom’s hand, gesturing to the carrots. 

“Sorry I- I think I’m going to go upstairs for a second.” I muttered, and my mom nodded, rubbing my back a little before gesturing for me to leave the kitchen. I could hear someone get up from the table behind me as I rushed to Bill’s bedroom. Assuming it was George, I left the door open as I stormed into the room, starting to pace as I heard him bounding up the stairs behind me. I didn’t even look up as he shut the door behind him, wringing my hands and tugging at my hair. 

“He’s such a fucking dick!” I cried, without waiting for George to say anything, “He’s so fucking annoying! I just don’t get it like- I know he’s angry but how is it fair that he can take it out on me. I mean, how does he even know he likes me- he doesn’t even know me! If he knew me, he’d know that that’s how I react to things like I make stupid mistakes that’s what I’m like I always get scared when people try to get close to me and I lash out it’s what I do, okay? Like that’s who I am and if he’s going to behave like this anytime I do that then he needs to know that i’m not who he thinks he is and I-” I took a deep breath, finally spinning to look at the person who’d followed me. 

At first, I still thought it was George, but the furrowed expression made me pause. My eyes bounced from his nose, to his ear, to his eyes. 

“Uh.” I said lamely. 

Fred. 

My anger dwindled in response to the shock, feeling my face burn and my palms go sweaty. He just stood there quietly, and it made me anxious. I moved to scratch at the back of my head, looking at the floor. 

“I thought you were George.” I admitted softly after the quiet moment went on for a beat longer than comfortable. 

“Yeah, I assumed.” He said in a low, even voice. I glanced at him, and he was still pretty still, but a faint pink had colored his cheeks. “So, you knew. When you kissed Cedric. You’d already known.” 

I blinked in surprise. 

“Oh. I mean. I figured George would’ve told you.”   
Fred shook his head, moving to fidget with something on the dresser beside him. 

“I haven’t really talked to George much recently.” 

“You’ve been ignoring him, you mean.” I said pointedly. Fred simply shrugged, continuing to keep his eyes on whatever was in his hand. “-Also, wait, how do you know that I kissed Cedric? How do you know it wasn’t the other way around?”

He muttered something under his breath, and I stepped toward him slightly.

“What?” I asked roughly. 

“I said, Cedric wouldn’t do that to me.” He looked at me sharply as he raised his voice, and I felt the anger return. 

“Wouldn’t do that to you? And, what, I did that to you? You think that I purposely hurt you.” 

“Well, yeah, if you already knew, then you did it on purpose.”   
I let out a harsh laugh as his voice rose slightly. 

“I did it on purpose- you think I wanted to hurt you. You think that that was all I was thinking about?” 

“If you already knew that I liked you, and then kissed my friend directly afterwards, then yeah, I think you did it on purpose.” 

“Hasn’t it occurred to you that maybe you weren’t even on my mind at that moment? That I was just doing something because it felt right? Has it occurred to you that maybe I like Cedric?” 

He froze, which made me freeze. We were shouting, and I was a little embarrassed, but I was also seething. I mean, he was being so fucking selfish. What if I did like Cedric? The guy was nice to me, at least. Fred hadn’t done anything so much as get me a drink at a couple parties. Cedric would walk me to class, would help me with homework, would make me laugh when I was feeling upset. I mean, hell, Cedric had been actually there for me when Fred was what, pining from afar? 

“Do you?” His voice was quiet again, but it was smaller. It wasn’t angry anymore. He sounded almost- hurt. 

“Do I what?” I hissed. 

“Do you like him?” Fred had lowered his gaze, glaring at my feet. I could hear someone had arrived downstairs, and there were people shuffling and talking loudly beneath us. 

“God, Fred, I don’t know.” I exclaimed, quieter this time, voice cracking a little as I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I don’t know! I don’t know- just, I know Cedric better than you, you know? Hell, you’ve talked to my friends more than you’ve talked to me. Don’t you think that’s like, a little weird?” 

He shrugged. 

“I was nervous.” 

“Nervous?” I said in an incredulous tone. He simply nodded and I let out a great sigh, rolling my eyes. “Fred, you can’t really be mad at someone because they make you nervous.” 

“I’m not mad at you because of that, I’m mad because you kissed my friend.”   
“So if it’d been anyone else, you wouldn’t have behaved this way.” 

“Yes!” Fred suddenly roared, and I jumped, “Yes! Are you fucking kidding me? If it had been _anyone_ else! I see Cedric fucking Diggory all the time. Fuck- my fucking mom likes Cedric more than she likes me-” 

“I don’t think,” I started, but Fred went on. 

“ -he’s always here, and he’s always going to be here. I see him for every goddamn holiday, for every Quidditch even, for every fucking birthday party he and his perfect fucking hair are fucking here and I just-” He pushed a hand through his hair angrily, and he was still glaring at my feet, and I suddenly felt a softness wash over me. I felt bad for him, actually. Like, genuinely. He stopped talking then, and just sort of slumped. We were quiet for a moment, and then I was overcome with the desire to hug him- to tuck his head into my neck and assure him that his mom did not like Cedric more than him- that that’s a ridiculous thing to think. 

I took a step forward, and he looked up at me then, and I was surprised to find tears in his eyes. He wiped at his face angrily, and I couldn’t help it. I reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him into a tight hug. 

Fred froze for a moment, not moving. He was so tall that my face only got up to his chest, so I wrapped my arms around his torso and squeezed, hearing his heart hammering under my ear. And with that he melted, tucking his face into my hair, hands grasping at the back of my head, tangling his fingers there. We stood like that for a beat, and then he was tugging slightly so I tiled my face to look up at him. 

And Fred kissed me. 

I didn’t think twice before kissing him back. He was rougher than Cedric, angrier, and I could feel the wetness of his tears as he pushed his face into mine, opening his mouth a little, encouraging mine to do the same. He had to lean low, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer. One of his hands remained in my hair, holding me steady as the other moved to grab onto my hip, pulling my body to his, making me curl my back and raise onto my tip toes. 

We kissed frantically, and just as he began to push me towards the bed, a soft knock came from the door. 

“Guys?” George’s voice trailed from behind it, and I jumped away from Fred, feeling flustered and flushed. His hands tried to follow me, tried to pull me back to him, but I smacked them away. He looked at me with sad, questioning eyes as I grimaced slightly when George knocked again. 

“We- I can’t- we have to-” I didn’t know how to explain to Fred that I really, really didn’t want my mom knowing. I could already hear her comments echoing around in my head. ‘How can you judge me when you’re sleeping around here’, ‘we’re guests here, Diana, we can’t just do whatever we want’, ‘why do you always have to do these sorts of things’. 

Fred’s face grew hard again, and I felt my stomach drop at the sight of it. 

“I get it.” He said harshly, and I let out a frustrated sound. 

“No, you don’t- can I just-” But Fred was already turning to open the door, allowing George to see him with his messy hair, me with pink lips, the two of us standing an awkward amount of space away. George’s eyes flicked between the two of us, and then he grinned at his brother. 

“Does this mean you’ll stop being mad at me?” He asked brightly. 

“No.” Fred said sharply, pushing around the boy and stomping down the stairs. George’s face fell, and he turned to me with a sigh. 

“What the fuck did you do?” He groaned as I walked towards him. I let out a pathetic sound. 

“He kissed me!” I exclaimed, gesturing wildly to where Fred had just been. 

“Why didn’t you kiss him back!” George cried. 

“I _did_.” 

“So what the fuck just happened?” 

“I don’t- ugh. I just- he’s so sensitive!” I said with a small stomp. George laughed slightly, slinging an arm around my shoulders and sighing again. 

“He is, yeah. Okay. Well, Bill’s here. He always knows how to cheer Fred up.” 

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this fucking god standing in the livingroom had not been it. Bill wasn’t as tall as Fred or George, but he was broader, his sweater taunt over strong arms and a defined chest. He had a long ponytail, and lots of earrings, and a grin that lit up the whole room. His face was _pretty,_ blue eyes framed by long lashes and freckles sprinkled across a straight and narrow nose. Bill was laughing loudly when I entered the room, clapping Fred on the shoulder, seemingly entertained by something he’d said. He smelled like leather, and spicy cologne, and the scent filled up the whole room. When he looked at me, my heart stopped. 

“Hiya.” He said in an easy way, sticking a hand out for me to shake. I took it, still staring at him shyly. “I’m Bill.” 

“Diana.” I said absently, and he smiled, glancing at George, who still had an arm slung around my shoulders. As Bill turned to talk to his brother, my eyes met Fred’s and he snarled at me, which made my frozen heart quickly beat itself into submission. 

“Dreamy, huh.” Alice hissed into my ear out of nowhere, making me jump. George slid his arm off me as Bill went to show him something, and I turned away from them to glare at my sister. She looked back innocently, a smirk playing along her lips. “Careful, Diana, your daddy issues are showing.”   
‘Oh, what, and yours aren’t?” I snapped back. She blinked, then laughed. 

“That didn’t make any sense.”   
“Uh huh. Fuck off.” I pushed her slightly, and she bounced back into place. 

“Are you okay?” She said in a quiet voice, and I glanced at her. 

“Yeah, I am in-fucking-credible.”   
“Ginny told me what happened in the kitchen, with you and Fred.” She looked towards the boy in question, who was now roughing Ron up a little, Ron seemingly just happy to be there. I sighed as I followed her gaze, shaking my head. 

“Y’all don’t know the half of it.” 

“So spill.” Came a voice from behind me, making me jump again. Ginny- seemingly out of nowhere, what the fuck- sidled up next to Alice, the two of them crossing their arms at me now. 

“What?” I said stupidly, looking between the two younger girls. 

“Spill. Tell us what’s going on. Come on, Diana, we’re the only girls here. Don’t you want some advice?” 

I sputtered a laugh at the two. 

“Advice? What do you guys know about boys?” 

Alice sniffed a little. 

“I’m doing pretty well with Neville, I think.” 

“I knew something was going on between you two!” I cried, pointing at her accusingly. Her face blushed pink, but she simply shrugged. 

“And also I know how to deal with my brother!” Ginny pointed out, nodding his way. I glanced back again, and caught Fred’s eye again, and he gave me another cold stare. I sighed heavily, grabbing my sister’s arm and tugging the two of them towards the stairs. 

“Okay, fine, please let me know what you guys think I should do, I am desperate.” 


	15. Drinking.

“He’s just so frustrating.” I hissed through gritted teeth. We’d gone into Ginny’s room, and the girl shut the door as I took a second to survey the place. It was bigger than I’d anticipated, and pinker, with dolls and books littering the floor. Ginny quickly pushed past me, picking up some of the toys and tossing them into a chest with a flushed face, closing it with a snap. She sat on top, turning to look at me expectantly as Alice went to flop on the bed, her phone already pulled out and held above her head. 

“George is?” Alice was asking, and I made a face, falling into a big pink armchair by the messy and paint stained desk. 

“Um, no.” I drawled, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. “Fred.” 

“Told you!” Ginny called out, pointing a finger accusingly at Alice as my sister turned onto her side, propping her head up with a hand and leveling me with a curious look. 

“Why would you think I was having an issue with George?” 

Alice shrugged. 

“You guys have been hanging out a lot. I thought the problem with Fred was that something was happening with George.” 

I paused for a second. It seemed like something had been happening with George?

“No, Jesus. One of them is more than enough trouble.” I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. 

“Yeah, Fred can be a handful. But he’s really very-” Ginny started. 

“Sweet when you get to know him. Yes, I know.” I mumbled, sliding further into the chair. 

“So what’s going on?” Alice asked in a disinterested tone, and I shot her a look. 

“Fred kissed me.” 

“He did not!” Ginny squealed. I groaned and hid my face again. 

“Yeah but I think I fucked it up. Again. I don’t get how this keeps happening.” 

“Well what’d you do?” Alice was asking,. 

“I just- he- I- ugh! Okay, so we were kissing, right, and then George knocked on the door and all I could think of was mom finding out and all of the things she’d say and I just-” I heaved out a great sigh and Alice gave me a knowing look. 

“Yeah, that’s a good move on your part.” She deadpanned. 

“What- what would your mom say?” Ginny asked, looking between the two of us. I grimaced and rolled my eyes. 

“She’d just- I dunno, fucking slut shame me? Tell me that I have no right to judge her about her stupid fucking boyfriend- who, by the way-” I pointed accusingly at Alice, “Apparently someone’s said they’re okay with.” 

Alice shrugged. 

“I wasn’t the one he had a problem with.” 

“Yeah well, you will! Once I refuse to be around him again.” I told her, crossing my arms and looking out the window. There was a moment of tense silence as Ginny obviously tried to think of something to say. 

“I think the best way to deal with Fred is honest communication.” She suddenly said quite bluntly. I sniffed. 

“I don’t get why I have to be the one to communicate. He’s the one who’s never letting people tell me anything.” 

Ginny frowned. 

“What do you mean?” 

I flung my arms up dramatically. 

“I  _ mean  _ he’s always fucking making everyone keep secrets from me. I didn’t even know he thought of me until like, Wednesday. And he wasn’t even going to the party! If someone had told me he’d be at the party then I wouldn’t have done what I did with Cedric and-”

“Wait wait, go back-” Ginny interrupted me with a hand, “You didn’t know he liked you?” 

I shook my head wordlessly. She sighed and frowned. 

“Then his behavior has been completely uncalled for.” She said bluntly. I gestured at her wildly, looking between the two girls. 

“Exactly!” I cried out, “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying. George keeps saying to wait for him to come around but for fuck’s sake I mean, we’re stuck here for like another week and a half. The least he could do is act civil until he calms down. But nooo, the man has to kiss me and confuse me more.” 

“So,  _ he _ kissed  _ you _ ?” Ginny tried to clarify. Alice had gone back to being on her phone. I thought back to the moment. 

“I don’t remember. But we kissed.” I admitted, slumping so low that my neck hurt slightly at the angle it was held in. Ginny was quiet for a moment, just looking at me, which made me a little antsy, and my leg started to bounce on its own. I thought about the kiss. I thought about Fred’s hands on me. 

“I think I liked kissing Fred more than kissing Cedric.” I was saying out loud before I could stop myself. Ginny’s expression didn’t even twitch- she simply nodded a little. 

“Well, yeah, obviously.” She deadpanned. I made a pained face at her. 

“What do you mean, obviously?” 

“You wouldn’t be letting it get to you so much if you didn’t actually like Fred back.” 

I paused, frowning at the floor. Was she right? Did I like Fred back?  
“But- I think I like Cedric too. Maybe?” 

“Who’ve you thought about more, since you got here?” 

The question was so simple, and her tone was so easy, as if they both knew what I was going to say. Or, well, as if she knew what I was going to say. I kept my gaze on the ground, chewing my lip, tearing the skin a little. I could taste blood in my mouth. 

“Fred, I guess.” I muttered, readjusting my crossed arms. 

“So you like Fred.” Alice said suddenly in an exasperated tone, sitting up quickly. We looked at her in surprise, and she looked back with a shrug. “I’m just disappointed. I’m bored now- I thought this was going to be more interesting.” 

I rolled my eyes and Ginny burst into a fit of giggles. 

“You owe me 2 sickles, by the way.” She said.

Alice huffed, shooting me a glare. 

“Couldn’t you have at least pretended it was about George?” 

“You guys made bets on my love life?” I cried out as Ginny held out her hands towards my sister, making a grabby motion. 

“There’s nothing else to do here.” Alice said with a heavy sigh, reaching into her pocket and tossing the money in her friend’s direction. The coins bounced across the floor and Ginny let out an angry sound, not bothering to pick them up. “I’m so bored.” 

“Well, now that Bill’s here, he could probably take us to Diagon Alley.” Ginny pointed out, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms. 

“I’m only going if Fred isn’t.” I grumbled. Alice rolled her eyes. 

“Stop being such a baby about this- you’d think having a boy like you was the worst thing in the world.” 

“He’s not a boy, Cimex, he’s a fucking terrorist. I almost  _ died  _ the other day.” 

“You did not  _ almost die-  _ “ Alice chided, but then paused and tilted her face up as if in thought. Ginny started to giggle again. “Yeah, okay.” Alice was saying, nodding, and Ginny was giggling harder, “You did almost die. But it was funny!” She started laughing too now, and the two of them were just sitting there, chortling over my near death experience by a fucking psychopath. 

“You guys this isn’t funny! And now he’s like, even more angry at me. Who knows what he’ll do now!” I sat up as I cried at them, tossing a couple of the pillows on the floor around me as they started laughing harder. “Seriously! This isn’t funny! He really is going to kill me!”   
We all jumped when the door cracked open, and George stuck his face in. 

“Who’s going to kill you?” He asked lightly, glancing around the room, “And what’s so funny?” 

“Fred!” I cried a little too loudly, burying my face in the pillow in my hands, letting out a small scream. 

George had been sent up to tell us that dinner was ready, 

Most of the meal passed pretty uneventfully, besides Fred flinging a couple of angry looks my way and Bill encouraging his mom to let us have a glass of wine each at the table. Well, us that were over sixteen, much to Ginny and Ron’s chagrin. But something about Bill being there made the parents seem more lighthearted- more, willing to let him be the adult, maybe? He kept pouring wine for his mom, and then for his dad, and then for my mom, and suddenly we were also getting refills of wine, accompanied by a wink from the eldest Weasley boy. And then my cheeks were flushed and I knew I was laughing a little too hard at something that he was saying, but he was so pretty and I’d definitely had a glass of wine too many. 

“Gosh, I’m stuffed.” Mr.Weasley announced after another hour or two of dessert, which had consisted of my mom’s chocolate cake and Ms.Weasley’s homemade ice cream to go with it. The man was patting at his stomach, and Bill was nodding, standing to start to collect the plates off the table. 

“Oh, honey, don’t you worry about those- Diana can take care of them.” My mom was saying lightly, and I shot her an incredulous look, which then turned into surprise as I realized just how much Bill had given my mom to drink. Her face was flushed red and her eyes glazed over.   
“Nonsense, Harmony, my boys can do it!” Mr.Weasley said cheerfully, reaching over to pat my mom’s hand. I nodded and sat back, folding my arms and shooting Fred a look across the table. He rolled his eyes and nudged George slightly, the two of them standing noisily and going about helping Bill. Ron moaned and groaned but stood up after Ginny kicked him under the table, wincing and shooting her a look. The parents prattled on amongst themselves, Mr.Weasley getting up after a little while and going around the corner to get something. He came back with a bottle of firewhiskey, and a great grin, holding out three glasses. 

“Maybe you girls can go into the living room, eh? Leave the grown ups to their own conversation!” He said a little too cheerfully, and Ms.Weasley made a shocked little sound, smacking him on the arm slightly as he sat back down. 

“They are more than welcome to stay and hang out with us- although, I’m sure, we might be a little old for company.” She offered us an apologetic smile, and Alice didn’t even seem to pause before standing from the table abruptly. 

“Thank god.” She said brightly, and it was my turn to smack her, albeit a lot harder than Ms.Weasley had Mr.Weasley. 

“Manners, Cimex, Jesus.” 

But the girl merely shrugged, gesturing to our mother. 

“She’s already drunk, might as well get out of here before it gets embarrassing.” 

My mom let out a little gasp. 

“Alice, I am not embarrassing! Diana, do you think your mom is embarrassing?” 

I grimaced at the light tone my mom used, an indicator that she was only a few of those firewhiskey glasses away from belting Abba at the top of her lungs. 

“No, you're not embarrassing, mom, just maybe a little..” I looked at my mom’s wide eyed, smiling expression. “Um, much.” I finished helplessly. 

My mom burst into a tinkling laugh, and I felt a slight moment of envy. I’d always wished I had inherited my mom’s pretty, bell like laugh instead of my dad’s loud and obnoxious one. Alice tugged on my arm, and I looked up at her. 

“Seriously, it’s going to get bad. Especially since she knows there’s something going on with you and Fred,” My sister was hissing, glancing up slightly as the boys returned to the room, “They’ll start pestering you about shit.” 

“Yeah but Alice,” I said patiently, making eye contact with Bill as he moved around the table, “If I stay they might give me more alcohol.” 

Alice let out a little huff, then shrugged and muttered a little ‘I tried’ before gesturing to Ginny, who happily followed her up the stairs. Bill retook his seat next to his mother, helping his father pour out the whiskey before lamenting that he didn’t get a glass. 

“Oh, Bill honey, why don’t you take the kids into the other room. You can play a game, or something?” Ms.Weasley said, patting his hand as he leaned back. I expected the young man to make some sort of protest, but was surprised when he exchanged a mischievous look with the twins. 

“Sure thing, mum. Diana, you coming with us?” 

I blinked, and nodded without thinking, feeling a little light headed at hearing Bill say my name. He winked at me, and my heart fluttered a little as I waited until everyone had filed into the living room. George had hung back, leaning against the wall by the entryway while Ron and Fred plopped onto the couch. Bill hovered for a few moments, then ducked around to where Mr.Weasley had been earlier. 

“Where’s he going?” I asked George timidly, feeling shy and loopy. 

“Getting a game.” George said cheerfully, gesturing to an armchair, which I sat in stiffly. He laughed and shoved me a little, wiggling in next to me. The chair was definitely too small for two people to sit in, much less a giant like George, and his leg ended up slightly underneath me. But he nudged me affectionately and I felt a little more at ease with the arrangement, adjusting so that I was turned slightly into him. I sensed Fred looking at us, but didn’t bother looking his way, instead listening to George as he went on about how excited he was for the Christmas party that would be happening in a couple of days. Finally Bill returned with two bottles in tow, and five glasses balanced haphazardly between his fingers. 

“Diana, where’d our sisters go?” He asked cheerfully, setting the glasses down and plopping onto the floor, sliding one bottle under the table as he opened the other with a little pop. My chest warmed in excitement as I realized it was a bottle of cheap whiskey, and that he was pouring a little for each of us. 

“Um, they went up stairs.” I said lamely, watching as he handed Ron a particularly full cup. 

“To catch up-” He explained as Fred opened his mouth in protest, “-oh but whoa, hey mate, don’t down the whole thing at once.” 

Ron paused in tilting his head back, flushing a little as everyone looked at him. He took a rather large and noisy gulp anyway, downing nearly everything Bill had poured for him. The rest of the glasses were passed around, and soon we were all sipping on whiskey in idle, awkward silence. 

“Fancy a game, or something?” George suddenly suggested, and I could feel his voice in his chest. Bill chuckled, looking between all of us. 

“I might be a little too old for games, but I’m more than happy to mediate?” He suggested cheerfully. 

“Well, what sort of game were you thinking of, George?” Ron was asking, pushing his now empty glass towards Bill, trying to get him to pour some more. George hummed a little, tapping his chin playfully. I felt a giggle bubble up in my chest, and I suppressed it with a hand, but knew that George noticed, and it did nothing but encourage his antics. 

“Well, we  _ could  _ play something like truth or dare, but that just feels so obvious.” 

“Plus I know everything about you.” Fred called out, and George let out a little ‘ah!’ sort of noise.

“The jester speaks!” He said teasingly, and Fred’s face flushed, and he slumped a little where he sat. 

“What on earth is going on with you two, anyway?” Bill asked in amusement. 

“Diana.” The twins said in unison, George grinning, Fred grimacing, both of them pointedly not looking at me. I made a face at Bill’s quizzical look, and Ron shrugged helplessly. 

“They’ve been like this since we got here.” The younger boy informed the oldest, and Bill finally refilled his glass with a heavy sigh.   
“Diana, you seemed like such a nice girl.” He said with a shake of his head. 

“I am!” I cried, sitting forward a little, making George make a weird grunt. I froze, and everyone looked at the two of us. I felt my face grow warm as George grabbed my hips quickly, adjusting me away from him, turning his lap away from me. There was another awkward silence until Fred let out an annoyed sound. 

“That! It’s that sort of shit that’s making me hate her!” He cried out, waving at me with his glass. 

“Hate me? Excuse me? George sat here on his own!” I cried back helplessly, looking between the other boys for help. Bill still seemed amused but Ron was pointedly not looking at anyone, sipping on his whiskey with a grimace. 

“King’s cup!” George suggested suddenly. 

“Come again?” Bill asked, leaning towards his brother slightly. 

“King’s cup- let’s play king’s cup.” 

“Do we have enough for king’s cup?” I asked doubtfully, gazing around the room. 

“With the girls we would.” George supplied, patting my hip slightly, “You should go get them.”   
I frowned at him, wondering what he was up to, but was a little distracted by how close our faces were when I turned, and moved off him without thinking. 

“Aight, I’ll go see if they’re down.” I said lamely, looking around the group for any sort of reason to do otherwise. Bill nodded a little, Fred kept his gaze elsewhere and Ron looked up at me pleadingly. 

Alice was completely uninterested in such a game.

“I hate drinking.” She said pointedly as she tapped on her phone. Ginny looked between us with a pleading look, obviously wanting nothing more to join but not wanting to leave her guest on her own. 

“Alice, come on, don’t be a fucking buzzkill.” I whined, feeling a little childish with the wine and whiskey mixing together, “I need you guys. It’s fucking awkward without you.”   
At that Alice glanced over, raising a brow. 

“You need me?” She said in a light tone. “How much would my presence cost?” 

I groaned as Ginny snickered. 

“Two sickles.” I suggested, kicking one of the ones that was still on Ginny’s floor from earlier. Alice sat up then with a bright smile, gesturing to Ginny who followed happily, mouthing a small ‘thank you’ as they passed by me to get downstairs. 

Everyone had moved to the floor by the time we’d gotten there, someone having procured a muggle card deck and created a circle around an empty pint glass on the coffee table. 

“We don’t really have enough diversity in the drinks to make something gross to drink.” Bill was saying, obviously reading through the rules on his phone.

“We’re young- we’ll just chug a bunch of whiskey.” Ron suggested cheerfully, moving so that Alice could sit next to him. I stubbornly sat next to her, making Ginny sit between me and George, which she didn’t seem to mind. 

“Will you finally let me drink, then?” She was asking Bill lightly, leaning around George to peek at her oldest brother. The man regarded her with a blurry look, squinting an eye slightly. 

“You promise to hold your liquor?” He asked seriously, and the girl nodded, face mirroring his own. “You promise that if you get too drunk, Fred was the one who gave it?” 

Ginny nodded again, the two of them ignoring the loud ‘oi!’ Fred gave out across the table. Bill stuck his hand out at the girl, who shook it. 

“Alright, best get another glass then.” Bill muttered then, going to get up from the table. 

“Oh- I don’t drink.” Alice said suddenly, and everyone looked at her. She held her own, and I felt a little proud of her suddenly. “I don’t like it.” She said as a simple explanation, and the look on her face dared anyone to question her. 

“I’ll drink for her.” I said cheerfully, reaching for where I’d left my glass, which looked suspiciously emptier. 

“You sure? You obviously can’t really hold your liquor.” Ron said with a snide expression, and Fred snickered. I felt my face flush in anger, and I narrowed my eyes at him. 

“Diana can hold her liquor plenty, Ron. It’s you who’ll pass out before the rest of us.” Ginny said suddenly, and I looked at her in surprise. She simply batted her eyes at me in response, and Bill slid a glass her way, holding slightly less alcohol than she’d given everyone else. 

“Alright, who starts?” 


	16. Communication

Fred had started, obviously, brandishing a Four- all girls drink. He demanded I drink twice, the asshole, for Alice, who watched with amusement. As the game went on, it got tenser between Fred and I- any time one of the more competitive cards were drawn, it ended up being the two of us trying to outdo the other. The king’s cup filled slowly in the middle, and Fred’s voice started to get louder. Bill started to seem drowsy and Ron started to get frustrated, claiming his brain wasn’t working anymore when he couldn’t come up with another type of fruit after Alice had pulled a ten; categories. 

“Watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, Grapes.” My sister sang out as Ron made a face at her, taking a begrudging sip and glowering at the cup in the middle. 

“When’s this game end, anyway?” He asked grimly, slurring his words a little. 

“When all the cards are pulled, obviously.” George supplied with a grin. Ginny’s face furrowed, her cheeks pink with the little amount of alcohol Bill had allowed her to have almost gone. 

“Is that true?” She asked loudly as I went to pull a card. Five- thumb master. I put my thumb on the table, watch everyone else as the conversation continued. Alice seemed to notice immediately, and followed suit. Bill realized as well, and nudged Ginny a little around George’s back as he set his thumb onto the table as well. 

“I just want it to be over.” Ron grumbled around his glass, seemingly going for another sip before pausing when he looked at Ginny. She made a slight nod towards me, and I blinked at Ron innocently as it took him a couple of seconds to catch on. And then George glanced around once Ron had stopped talking, and did the same. 

“Fred, drink.” I announced happily, slapping the card onto the table. 

“Are you bloody serious!” The boy roared, and for a second it felt like he would literally flip the table. 

“Jesus Christ just drink- it’s not our fault you’re so full of yourself that you don’t notice anything around you.” 

He mimicked me a little, making a face before proudly downing the rest of his whiskey, smacking the glass onto the table. 

“Bartender, another one.” He said briskly, gesturing to Bill, who looked at the thing doubtfully. 

“I dunno mate, you might’ve had enough.” 

“Oh, come on Bill, you know I’m good for it.” Fred said playfully, reaching across the table to bump his brother slightly. Bill smiled lazily, and then reached out for a new bottle. 

“Wow already?” I asked without thinking, feeling the words disconnect from my brain. Bill laughed at the astonishment in my voice as he popped the thing open, and I couldn’t help but gaze at his forearm dreamily as he did so. Alice shoved me a little and I toppled into Ginny, who burst into giggles. 

“Thought one of them was more than enough trouble?” She said cheerfully a little too loudly, making everyone look our way as Bill finished topping Fred off. It was sherry this time, instead of whiskey. I flushed under their gazes. 

“What’s that mean?” Bill asked lightly, looking between us kids. 

“Nothing!” I squeaked out a little too quickly. Ginny opened her mouth to say something but I slapped a hand over it, hugging her head to my shoulder. I laughed nervously as Bill gave me an confused expression, but he just laughed as well, recorking the bottle and placing it back in it’s hiding place. Ginny smacked my arm, and I looked down to realize she’d pulled a card. 

“Jack- make a rule!” She cried happily when I finally released her, and everyone groaned. Ginny had gotten two jacks already, and her rules were always pointed and ridiculous. She tapped her chin playfully, considering us each carefully. “Alright,” She said after a moment, “Everytime Diana or Fred start fighting, they have to drink.” 

“Wait-” I started at the same time as Fred went, “Hold up-”. We both paused, glaring at one another. 

“Drink!” Ginny squeaked happily. 

“Nu uh, we weren’t fighting one another we were fighting you.” I pointed out. 

“Yeah, we’re in agreement on this one.” Fred said with a defiant nod. I glanced at him, but he didn’t look at me. 

“They’ve got a point, Gin. Next time we’ll get them though.” George said happily, going to pull another card for himself. “Ah- Queen!”   
I let out a dramatic groan and fell over backwards. Queen meant questions- you had to answer the question of the player to your right with another question. George and Fred were ridiculously good at this one. Ron and I? Pathetically not. I laid on the flood as George turned to Bill, starting it off. I listened as it went to Fred, and then to Ron, and then to Alice. I closed my eyes as I heard her turning to me, and folded my hands across my stomach. 

“Who do you think is the hottest Weasley?” She asked me brightly. My eyes shot open and I glared at her smirking face from the floor. 

“Why would you ask a question like that?” I retorted haughtily. 

“Why shouldn’t I?” She asked back. 

“Oh, yeah, why not just make everyone uncomfortable?” I said in a hostile tone. 

“Was that a question?” I heard Ron whisper to Fred, but I didn’t hear a response. 

“Why not just stop making everyone uncomfortable?” Alice continued. I narrowed my eyes, sitting up quickly, feeling lightheaded and angry. 

“Why is it always my responsibility to make everyone happy?” I asked pointedly, and Alice shrunk a little then. Everyone was quiet for a moment, and I took a deep shaky breath before turning to look at Ginny. 

“What’s up?”

  
  


The game didn’t go on for much longer, and I felt the whiskey making my eyes heavy and my head fuzzy. Fred ultimately won the cup, and everyone including myself cheered and whooped as he downed the mixture of sherry and whiskey in record timing. At some point our parents had stumbled in, leaning in and blinking blearily at what we were doing. Bill aptly hid the liquor and explained we were playing with apple juice. I wasn’t sure if Ms. Weasley fell for it, or if she was just too drunk to care, but it was ultimately her who pulled Mr. Weasley away, telling us that they were all off to bed and to turn the lights off when we headed up. My mom hovered in the door for a moment, and I sighed at her. 

“We’re drinking.” I said in a loud whisper, causing the rest of the group to shoot surprised glares at me. My mom giggled a little, swaying slightly. 

“Uh oh.” She sang, “Don’t tattle on your friend, Diana!” When she didn’t move after that Alice sighed heavily at my side. 

“You can join if you want, mom, but we’re only playing kid’s games.” 

My mom’s face scrunched up at that, peering at the cards on the table. 

“Oh, I don’t like games.” She said stubbornly, and my sister and I shared a look. 

“Yes, we _know_.” I said gently, standing up, bracing myself against the table a little. “Do you need help getting to bed?” 

“Oh, no no no no.” My mom said absently, patting the doorway and looking up towards the stairs, waving her hand at me. I frowned as she continued to stand there. 

“I can help you, Ms. Sterling.” Bill suddenly said, standing swiftly. I looked at him curiously, but he made a face as if to say ‘I got this’, and all of a sudden I was so glad to have an adult willing to step in with my mom. 

“Are you sure?” I asked quietly, stepping forward as Bill went to take my mom’s arm. 

“Oh!” My mom gasped, patting the man’s hand as he nodded at me, “Oh, you are so beautiful, you know? You know, my husband was beautiful too, once. Before, of course, before he got sick, and then he was- well he was-” I stiffened as my mom’s voice broke, and glanced at Alice, who’d stood up now as well, pushing past me to get to my mom before she started fucking crying in front of everyone. I so desperately just wanted to let Bill deal with it- to just let a grown up deal with grown up stuff and not have to be my mom’s fucking babysitter. I just wanted to be able to stay and continue getting drunk with my friends. But then my mom started to blubber and I let out a heavy sigh, moving to wave Bill’s hands away, taking the arm Alice wasn’t already holding. 

“I’ll be back.” I hissed to the shocked faces of the group as Alice and I helped my mom up the stairs. 

  
  


“I miss him so much, you know.” My mom was whispering as we finally got her into Bill’s room. I hadn’t been in it yet, and was surprised at how cluttered and roomy it was when Alice finally got the lights on. 

“We know, mom. We miss him too.” Alice was saying, helping my mom get her pants off. It wasn’t that mom drank a lot for a woman her age- it’s just that we were the only people to help her when she accidentally drank too much. Usually it was just me helping her, and I was thankful for Alice’s help, as my vision was blurry and stance unsteady. 

“I’ll get her a glass of water.” I said as mom continued to blubber, patting Alice’s face, telling her how much she looked like our father, how pretty and smart and funny she was, just like him. She nodded at me absently, and I found my way out of the room and stumbled into the kitchen as silently as I could. As I grabbed a glass and filled it with water, I wondered if there’d be a time where my mom could move on from dad’s death. If there’d be a moment where she wouldn’t cry the moment she was left alone and drunk. If she’d be able to find someone who could help her in the way that Alice and I had had to over these past couple of years. 

I hadn’t heard Fred come in, and nearly dropped the glass in my hand when I nearly spun into him. 

“Jesus fucking Christ.” I hissed out, clasping at my chest and looking down as I tried to regain my breath. 

“Sorry.” He mumbled. And then I felt a hand in my hair, and I froze. 

“Um, Fred-” I started to say, but then the hand was on my jaw, a single finger tracing a line there, and then it was on my chin, tipping it upwards. He forced me to look at him, and I had to, and the softness I found in his eyes made any anger I’d had at him over the past couple of days dissipate. 

“You’re right.” He said softly. 

“What?” I whispered. 

“You’re right- I don’t know you. But I want to know you. I’ve always wanted to know you, Diana. All about you. Everything there is.” His words slurred a little, but the genuineness of his tone made my heart race in my ears. 

“What do you mean?” I asked carefully, letting a hand rest on his chest. 

“I mean I like you. I really, really like you.” I tiled my head away a little, looking off to the side shyly. He moved closer, and rested his other hand on my hip, cupping my cheek. I leaned into it, turned into it, pressing an almost kiss on his fingers and heard his breath catch in his throat. My drunken mind raced- do I kiss him? Do I forgive him? Or am I still angry? Flashes of what I’d thought about before- about Cedric, about his kindness, about his gentle actions- do I give that up for something so unknown? 

“I have to give this to my mom.” I said softly into the palm of his hand.   
“Okay.” he replied in a hoarse whisper. We stood like that for a beat longer, and then I pulled myself away, wanting nothing else than to press back into him, to kiss him again, to feel his big hands on me. 

I glanced up at him as I did so, and he looked sad, but not the same way he had earlier. 

“I’ll be back down.” I promised, and he nodded. 

Alice had gotten my mom into bed, and was tucking her in when I cracked the door open. 

“She’s already basically asleep.” Alice said in a normal tone, and I could tell from the way her shoulders tensed that she was annoyed. I knew what she felt- how she felt. I didn’t say anything as she brushed past me, closing the door with a soft click. I looked down at my mom, and she looked so small lying there, breathing heavily. I set the glass of water on the bedside table, and then was overwhelmed with the desire to brush some hair away from her forehead. She let out a happy little sound when I did so, and I crouched slightly, doing it a couple more times, watching her face relax slightly as I did so. Fred’s words echoed around in my head, and my chest hurt at the idea of having to go back downstairs and act like everything was normal. I’d sobered up a little, at this point, I figured. The alcohol wasn’t keeping my system as warm as it had been a couple of minutes ago. I tucked a piece of hair behind my mom’s ear, and went to take a sip for myself from her water glass. 

“Goodnight, mom.” I said softly. Mom mumbled something back that might’ve been a goodnight back, but I wouldn’t really tell, and I clicked the lights off as I left. 

Bill wanted to go to bed, Ginny informed me as I got back downstairs, and since he had to sleep on the couch the rest of them figured maybe they could go out to the treehouse. 

“I thought no girls were allowed.” I asked brightly, watching them all pile on their coats. 

“I guess we can make an exception, just this once.” George replied in the same tone, slinging an arm around me and stuffing his hat on my head. “Get your jacket on, Sterling.”  
“Nu uh, no way, I’m not going into the fucking cold.” I told him, shaking my head and crossing my arms. 

“Oh come on Diana, even I’m going.” Alice sang as she shrugged her big blue coat on, all the anger seeming to have dissipated in the little time that I was gone. I frowned at her curiously as she slung my coat at me, grinning. 

“If I freeze to death I’m haunting all of your asses.” I said stubbornly, making Ron laugh a little as I begrudgingly put on my coat, zipping it up to my neck. “And I’ll need a scarf, too.” 

Before anyone else could move, Fred took the one he’d been about to don, and wrapped it tightly around my face. Everyone froze, and Fred didn’t look me in the eye as he tucked the ends into the collar of my coat. 

“Thanks.” I mumbled into the fabric, and he simply nodded, folding up the collar of his own jacket and tugging his hat low. 

“Oh, fucking finally.” Ginny said abruptly, making everyone burst into giggles. George tucked the bottle of sherry under his arm, which was still about two thirds of the way full, and led our little group outside. 

Ron fell into step with Alice, bumping into her slightly as they walked, and I watched curiously as she seemed to soften slightly. Ginny sent me a meaningful look as she tucked her arm into Alice’s, then moved to talk with George, who just seemed happy that the night was continuing. Leaving me walking slightly behind, with Fred. The situation felt familiar, and I blushed at the thought of it, burying my face in my scarf. It smelled like boy, and cigarettes, and faintly of cinnamon gum. The two of us walked in awkward silence, letting the group get further and further away. 

“I hate the cold.” I said lamely, wanting to break the silence. 

“I know.” Fred said simply. I frowned, and buried my face again. And we were quiet. 

“Um- did you know that drinking alcohol in cold weather reduces your ability to shiver?” I tried again. 

“Oh yeah?” Fred said in a disinterested tone. 

“Yeah.” I replied lamely, rathering to go on talking even if he didn’t care about what I was saying than letting the tense quiet continue, “Yeah, so, really, you’re taking away the body’s ability to warm itself up, even though you feel warm, because of the alcohol itself? So actually it’s pretty dangerous to um- to drink alcohol in the cold.”   
“I didn’t know that.” Fred replied, and I felt frustration tangle itself at the back of my neck. 

“Did you know that dri-” I started, but Fred interrupted me by grabbing my arm, swinging me to look at him abruptly. I buried my face into the scarf up to my nose, and looked up at him in panic, feeling my palms grow clammy despite the cold. 

“Diana.” He said in a low, serious tone, which made weird tingles happen in my ovaries. 

“That’s my name.” I said lamely. He grunted, and looked off at the group ahead of us. 

“Look, if I made you uncomfortable I-” he started, but stopped when I started to shake my head. 

“Fred I just- I don’t- I don’t know what to do. One minute you’re being cute and wanting to hang out and then the next you’re charming things to hurt me and then kissing me and then glaring at me and then telling me you like me and I just-” I took in a deep breath, scuffing the frozen ground a little with the tip of my boot, looking at anything but his face, “I just haven’t even had a moment to process if I actually like you because you’ve been making me so- so angry.”   
He was quiet for a second, and I finally got myself to look up at him. He wasn’t looking at me but at the group ahead of us instead, seeming to be mulling over what I’d said. 

“And George helped with that?” 

I paused, and then made a face, which he caught when he looked at me, responding to it in kind. 

“George? Huh?” I exclaimed stupidly. 

“What do you mean _huh_ , isn’t he the reason you pushed me away earlier today? And then when we were in the livingroom and you guys were all over one another a-” He stopped when I started laughing, frantically waving my hands and shaking my head. 

“ _What_!” I was yelling, reaching out to grab his jacket and shaking him a little, “What, what what what what the fuck are you talking about Fred? What are you talking about. George I mean- yeah he’s a good guy but holy fuck- dude, _no_.”   
“So when Ginny was saying that one of them was more than enough trouble-”   
“She meant _you_ , Fred, Jesus.”   
He seemed to consider this for a moment, and then sighed heavily, pushing a hand through his hair and letting out an anxious little laugh. 

“For a moment I thought-”   
“Oh my god.” I groaned, feeling the alcohol in my system rush back into my veins, making me brave. Fred looked down in surprise as I grabbed onto his upturned collar, tugging it down towards me. 

“Diana, wha-” The rest of his sentence was mumbled unintelligibly into my lips, and his hands found their way to my waist again, steadying himself as he pushed further into the kiss. I held onto his collar tightly, feeling if I let go then the happy feeling swirling in my chest would disappear. And then his hands were moving to hug me into him, and I allowed myself to wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him further into me, making him let out a little content sound. He was grasping at my sides, and he was a lot taller than Cedric- he had to bend a lot further down to kiss me. I felt a little unsteady as I arched into him, getting on my toes so that I could press our bodies closer together. His warmth made me dizzy, and I breathed harshly out of my nose as we kissed- sloppily and wet and loud. And suddenly one of his hands was on the back of my head, pushing my mouth closer on to his, his tongue swiping across my lips and I opened them for him, letting the kiss grow open mouthed and messy. 

“Gross.” Came a voice from behind us, and I broke away from his face with a small annoyed sound, dropping my head backwards to see who it was that had spoken. Alice was standing there, hands in her pockets, a cigarette drooping from her mouth. 

“Where the fuck did you get that?” I exclaimed, turning in Fred’s arms but keeping them held around me as I looked at my sister fully. The thing was unlit, and she shrug carelessly. 

“Ron gave it to me. Are you guys coming or what?” 

“Yeah, we’re coming.” I said breathlessly as Fred nuzzled his face into the side of my neck, “Just give us a second.”   
Alice shook her head.   
“No I’m supposed to bring you back with me, or not come back at all.”   
“What, why?” I cried, and Fred snickered slightly. 

“Ginny said so. George wants to play never have I ever, but it isn’t fun with just the four of us.”   
“It won’t be fun as the six of us either.” I pointed out, but Fred started shuffling, and I sighed in defeat, letting him walk me towards the treehouse, legs spread wide so I could remain in his arms as we walked. 


	17. Never have I Ever

“How’re we all going to play if we don’t have any cups.” I pointed out after Alice, Fred and I had climbed into the treehouse. George had cast a small heating charm around the place, but it was only strong enough to keep us from freezing, and I cuddled into Fred’s side for warmth as the six of us settled into a circle. 

“We can just do fingers.” George suggested carelessly, holding his hands up as if to demonstrate. 

“Or we could just swig from the bottle.” Ron pointed out, but Ginny shook her head. 

“All at the same time? Ron, don’t be daft.”   
“Me don’t be daft? You’re like, thirteen! How’re you in anyway as experienced as the rest of us.”   
Ginny sniffed. 

“You don’t know me.” 

“Maybe this is a bad idea.” George said in a jokingly serious manner looking between the two of them before making eye contact with Fred across the circle, “Don’t want to learn too much about these kids.”   
“Reckon you’re right, George.” Fred said, his voice rumbling against my ear in a way that went straight to between my thighs. 

“Could be too much to handle.”

“Their innocence, tarnished.”  
“Ruined.”

“Disgraced!”

“Extinguished!” 

“Extirpated!” 

“Alright, enough!” Ginny cried, and George grinned at Fred. 

“Extirpated? Nice one.”   
I felt Fred shrug above me. 

“Can we just play the bloody game?” Ron muttered, rubbing at his arms a little, “It’s bloody freezing and I’m losing my buzz.”   
“I’ll go first!” Ginny cried, raising her hand up in the air. 

“Yeah, alright, go ahead.” George said offhandedly, glancing at his phone from his pocket. 

“Never have I ever kissed a boy.” She said proudly. Ron grunted. 

“Yeah, good.” He muttered as I reached for the bottle. Alice gestured that I should hand it to her, and I looked at her curiously after she took a sip. She shrugged wordlessly and put it back in the center, and then, to everyone’s surprise, George reached forward and took a swig as well. 

“What?” He said to all of our surprised looks. “I’ll go next. Never have I ever…. Smoked a cigarette.” He said pointedly, as Alice had reached to light the one she’d tucked behind her ear before climbing up. She glanced at him and let out a little sigh, gesturing for the bottle. Ron took it next, then Fred, then me, and then to everyone’s horror, Ginny. 

“Only the one time.” She said evenly, and George threw his hands up, shaking his head. 

“This is too weird. Ginny, go home.” He said jokingly. 

“No way! Not unless Ron leaves too!”   
“You could all leave.” Fred suggested suddenly, tone carrying the same joking air as George’s did, “Leave the bottle just for Diana and me.”   
“No way.” Ron said with a disgusted look. 

“I’ll go next.” Alice said suddenly, and we all looked at her. I was a little worried, seeing her smoking a cigarette and drinking sherry was far from a familiar sight, and she looked older in the light of the thing. “Never have I ever had sex.” She said very simply. Everyone seemed to pause and glance around the circle. George reached for the bottle first, taking a length gulp, before handing it to Fred, who took a long sip before going to give it to me. I looked at it in surprise and then looked at him, his expression growing confused. 

“Oh I uh- no I’m-” I just held up a hand awkwardly, shaking my head a little. We blinked at one another, and Fred seemed to move away just slightly. 

“Oh.” He said lamely, and George snickered, gesturing for him to put the bottle back in the middle. Even though his arms remained around me, they felt tense, and I sat up a little, moving away, and Fred let me. There was an awkward pause before Ron spoke up. 

“It’s one of your twos’ turn.”   
“I’ll go-” I said quickly, tapping at my leg, keeping my gaze on the ground. “Um, never have I ever.. Gone skinny dipping.” 

“Never?” Ginny said incredulously as all the Weasleys reached for the bottle.   
“We used to go as kids.” Ron said as explanation, passing the bottle to his brother. 

“Together?” Alice said with a wrinkled nose. 

“Yeah- well, I guess, for a while.” 

“Gross.”  
Ron bristled.  
“It’s not gross- we’re family.”   
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Diana naked.” Alice said roughly. I giggled a little. 

“Yeah but I’ve seen you naked.” 

“What, when? I don’t believe you.”   
“Alice, I used to have to stay in the bathroom while you showered because you were scared of the ‘man in the mirror’. Don’t you remember?” 

Alice sniffed slightly. 

“No.”   
“My turn!” Fred exclaimed cheerfully, “Never have I ever been scared of the man in the mirror!”   
Alice sent him a glare, and she grabbed the bottle from Ginny, taking a particularly long swig. I reached out for it after, and felt the liquid burn it’s way down to my stomach. 

  
  
  


We played well into the night, and didn’t stop until George pointed out that it was almost five am, and Ms.Weasley would have a fit if she found out that any of us had been awake for so long. So we all sleepily and drunkenly filed down the rickety tree house ladder. Fred went before me, leaving me last, and held his hands out slightly as I made my way down in a protective sort of manner. We walked behind the group again, but this time he pulled me into his side, and I tucked myself into it happily, the alcohol keeping me buzzing and content to be there. We didn’t say much save a couple of affectionate exchanges, or little quips over who was more drunk, Fred stumbling at one point, me tripping over my own foot at another. 

“I’m going to sleep in Ginny.” Alice whispered to me as we re-entered the house, sighing in the warmth that hit our bodies.

“In Ginny?” I repeated, not sure I’d heard her right. She giggled a little and shook her head. 

“Sorry sorry, in Ginny’s room.” She stumbled a little as she spoke, leaning in close, and she reeked of cigarettes. 

“Okay just- just don’t let mom smell you before you shower or whatever, yeah? Cause you smell awful.”   
But Alice just made a little offended kissing sound, and wobbled off after Ginny. George clapped me on the shoulder, bidding me goodnight before leading a very disoriented Ron up the stairs. And then Fred and I were just standing in the entryway, feeling slightly awkward. 

“I can um- I can walk you to your room?” Fred offered softly. I shrugged a little.   
“Sure.” I said nervously, the sherry we’d just had doing nothing to help my nerves. Fred’s face after finding out I was a virgin replayed in my mind as he followed me up the stairs, both of us freezing when a floorboard somewhere creaked. Finally we found ourselves outside of Charlie’s bedroom door. 

“Um, okay. Well, goodnight.” I whispered, and he nodded, but neither of us moved. We just looked at each other. I studied his face, questioning what he wanted. But his eyes seemed to do the same thing, not giving me any sort of answer. So I put a tentative hand out, going to grasp at the bottom of his shirt. And then he was leaning to kiss me, cupping my face and tilting it towards his, pressing me against the door. I sighed into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck, almost using them to pull me up to meet his lips. He braced himself with his other arm against the door, the one on my cheek going to grab at my hip, helping a little. We kissed like that for what felt like ages, and my skin burned to be touched, to feel his against it. When I pulled away he followed me slightly, before opening his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine, breathing heavily. 

“Do you- um- do you want to come and- hang out?” I said tentatively, and Fred’s eyes searched mine again for a moment, before nodding breathlessly, leaning to kiss me one more time before opening the door behind me. 

I stumbled into the room, and almost fell backwards, but Fred caught me, chuckling quietly. I made a face and hit his arm lightly, but he just went to press a sloppy kiss to my cheek. The arm that caught me was wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me up easily as we stepped into the room. He shut the door behind him absently, still holding on to me, and I looked up at him curiously. He paused, looking at my face again, before kissing my lips. He reached to wrap both arms around my waist, and then pulled upwards. I let out a little squeak as I was forced to wrap my legs around his torso, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing our mouths together hotly. He snickered slightly into the kiss, and walked to the bed in two easy strides. He brought me down gently onto the bed, and then crawled on top of me, breaking the kiss to move to kiss down my jaw, then my neck, up behind my ear. 

“Um, Fred- ah-, Fred.” I said quietly, making small appreciative noises before patting on his arm quickly. He rose his face to look at mine, mouth hanging a little open, eyebrows raised. 

“Yeah?” He said, and I bit my lip, shying away from him a little. 

“I don’t- I mean, I’m not- I don’t want to-” I tried to get out, but the sentence just felt so awkward to say aloud. Fred’s face furrowed, and he shook his head at me. 

“That’s okay, don’t worry, we won’t do anything you don’t want to.” 

“Promise?” My voice came out smaller than I’d anticipated, and Fred withdrew completely, causing me to make a small noise of disappointment, reaching to drag him back to me. But he untangled my hands from his shirt and held the both of them in one hand, the other one going to cup my face gently. 

“Diana, I would never pressure you into anything. Never.” He punctuated his sentence with a chaste kiss. I hummed happily into it, trying to wiggle out of his grip, trying to deepen it, but he pulled back, much to my disappointment. He laughed gently, shaking some hair out of his eyes. 

“That starts with not going any further while you’re drunk.” He said decisively, and I could tell he was just as surprised as I was by his statement. 

“Whaaaaaat-” I whined out, arching my back a little, trying to get him to come back to me, “-really? No, come on.” I tried to tug him back to me with my legs, and he laughed again, and let me pull him, falling onto his side next to me. 

“Okay, maybe we can make out a little more.” He said breathlessly, and I made a happy sound, nodding frantically, finally getting my hands back to pull his face to mine, squirming my body against his. He let out a little restrained groan, hand going to my hip and gripping harshly, pulling me to him as our mouths worked against one another’s. We stayed like that for a bit, squirming and grunting and moaning against one another but not going any further, his hands flitting across my clothed body, which squirmed in response, trying to get him to touch it. 

“Okay, okay, Diana, I have to go.” He said suddenly in a gruff voice, pulling away and sitting up abruptly. 

“What?” I mewled out, softer than before, rolling across the bed to lay my head in his lap, looking up at him coyly. Fred let out a frustrated noise, shoving a hand through his hair.   
“I can’t- come on, I have to go to bed.” He pleaded, but made no move to move me off of him, and I made no move to get off. 

“Just stay, please. Stay with me?” I whispered, taking one of his hands slowly and bringing it to just rest on my lips. He sighed and ran his thumb across my lower lip, before shaking his head and rolling his eyes. 

“Fine, but if mum catches me I’m using you as a shield.”   
I giggled and wiggled happily as he pushed me off of him and undid his pants, stripping down to his underwear. I watched in fascination as he revealed his long and lithe torso, his broad shoulders, his long legs. He was more muscular than I’d anticipated, and had freckles everywhere. I bit my lip when he caught me looking at him, and he laughed, putting his hands on his hips and flexing jokingly. 

“Like what you see?” He said in a teasing whisper, and I went to smack him with a pillow, which he caught easily. “And? Are you going to sleep like that?” He asked around the thing, giving a pointed look at my clothes. I flushed, and shrugged slightly. He rolled his eyes and patted my thigh. 

“Come on, get into pjs. I’m sleepy.”   
Fred took my place as I got up tentatively, stretching and taking my time. I’d been wearing just a simple pair of jeans and sweatshirt without a shirt underneath…. Or bra. I took my pants off slowly, kicking them away before turning my back to Fred, who’d since stretched out across the bed, watching lazily. I took the sweater off over my head, letting him see my bare back, and turned to look at him teasingly, catching his look of awe. I made as if I was going to turn around, and I heard an audible hitch in Fred’s breath before I snagged his shirt from the ground, pulling it over myself before I turned all the way around. 

“Tease.” He mumbled as I hopped into the bed next to him, snuggling into his side and giggling childishly. He smiled though, and it made my heart swell. I kicked the covers so they could be pulled up over us, and moved in close, entangling our legs together, ignoring the bulge in his boxers. He laid down next to me and I took one of his hands, playing with his fingers idly. 

“Who’d you do it with?” I whispered suddenly, unsure if I wanted to know, but also knowing that curiosity would eat me alive if I didn’t. 

“Pardon?” He spoke into my hair, and I looked up at him slightly. 

“Who’d you have sex with?” 

His brow furrowed. 

“Oh- I mean, it was nothing.”   
“Well, it was your first time.” 

“Yeah but- I mean, it wasn’t romantic or anything. Just sort of something that happened.”   
“So if it doesn’t matter, you can tell me.” 

He paused.   
“I mean, I suppose.” He said quietly, and I saw a pink blush blossom on his cheeks. 

“So?” I prodded, going back to look at his hand, and moving it so that it was intertwined with mine. 

“Angelina.” He said simply, and my heart stammered to a halt. 

  
  
  


When I woke the next morning, Fred was gone. I found a crumpled note by the side of the bed, under a glass of water, stating that he left before anyone got up- just in case. I glanced at the time on my phone, which read 9 am. I groaned as I heard voices travelling up the stairs, recognizing my mom’s laugh among them. Reasoning I should probably get up and help the beginning preparations for the party, I rolled out of the warm blankets and rubbed my arms as I teetered over to my trunk. I was still wearing Fred’s shirt, I noticed, and lifted the collar to my nose, revelling in the clean laundry smell, mixed with his spicy deodorant, and dove soap. I threw a crew neck over it, tucking the edges and collar in so that nobody could see I had Fred’s shirt on underneath, and a pair of matching sweatpants. 

As I left Charlie’s room, tying my hair up in a bun as I went, I heard some stirring in the rooms above. I thought about Alice’s quick departure earlier this morning, and wanted to gossip with her about the events of last night before I had to deal with a hungover mom- and also ask Alice how she was feeling. I went back to grab the water from my nightstand, and hugged it to my chest as I snuck up the stairs as quietly as I could, definitely not pausing on Fred and George and Percy’s floor, straining to hear movement. Right as I was about to knock on Ginny’s door, way at the top of the house, Ron’s door cracked open. I turned a little, expecting to see the sleepy boy, but was shocked to see Alice peering out. We both froze, and I raised my eyebrows at her. She grimaced and shut the door quickly. There seemed to be some sort of whispered conversation exchanged inside, and then the door opened again, and she trotted out in shame, eyes on the floor. 

“Um?” I said meaningfully, looking at her bent head and pushing her with a finger, “Hello? What?” 

But she raised a hand.   
“Don’t.” She said in a pained tone, and hurried past me to go back down to Charlie’s room. The door opened again and a sorrowful Ron emerged, blinking rapidly in the light. 

“‘Morning.” He mumbled out in a sleepy voice, pushing past me to get to the bathroom. I stood for a second longer, trying to process what the fuck just happened, but hearing my mom greeting my sister a couple of floors below jolted me out of my shock, and I hopped the last few steps as I practically fell over myself trying to get back to Charlie and Bill’s floor. 

“Hello girls.” My mom was saying brightly to a grumpy looking Alice as I skidded to a halt in front of the woman. 

“Morning mom.” I said back just as brightly as Alice hurried into Charlie’s room, grunting some sort of greeting. My mom’s face contorted into a frown, but I waved absently in the direction my sister had disappeared. 

“Don’t mind her, seriously. She had a wild night.”   
Mom made a face. 

“A wild night? How? What does that mean?”   
I shook my head, hooking my arm into my mom’s and dragging her back towards the kitchen. 

“Nevermind that, mom. How’re you feeling?” 


	18. A Day Out

Breakfast was awkward, to say the least. It was hard not to acknowledge that Fred and I had obviously made up, and mom was giving both me and Alice meaningful looks throughout the meal. Fred had sat across from me, and hurried to serve me whatever he could, occasionally reaching out to play footsie underneath the table, snickering and knocking into George. Ron adminatedly avoided Alice, and she did the same, and the tension was palpable across the table. But the parents seemed in good spirits, and Bill as well- despite having had to sleep on a couch. After breakfast the boys helped clean up as Ginny, Alice and I went into the livingroom to start helping Ms.Weasley with decorations for the Christmas party that would be happening tomorrow night. 

We decorated the tree to the brim with fun little ornaments, and hung up all sorts of garlands and string lights around the house. My mom kept asking if we should clean anything, but Molly told us it wouldn’t be an issue, that they never really cleaned the place before a house party. Besides, most of it would be happening in a tent they’d rented out, which would be arriving tomorrow, and so my mom stopped pestering after a while. At one point the boys came in to try and help, but their attendance just ended up in all of us goofing off together, and Mr. Weasley suggested that maybe we should all head out for the day while the grown ups did the cooking. 

“Katie asked if we wanted to meet up in Hogsmead today.” George had added to his father’s suggestion, looking between Bill and Fred. 

“I could text Harry and Hermione- I would bet money that Harry’s sick of his uncles at this point.” Ron mentioned, walking towards his brothers while pulling his phone out of his pocket, hunching over to look at it. Alice and I exchanged awkward looks as Ginny stepped into the little circle her siblings had made, looking up at all of them. 

“I want to go too.” She said stubbornly, making Bill laugh loudly and tousle her hair affectionately. I was a little taken aback when he turned to me and my sister. 

“What about you guys? Fancy a day in Hogsmead?” 

“Okay.” Alice said before I could answer, and I frowned at her as she stepped forward, noticeably keeping her distance from Ron. 

“But it’s cold!” I whined. Fred glanced over at me, and looked up, as if contemplating my point. 

“What about your friends, Diana? Don’t you like, have those?” Alice said hotly, crossing her arms. I balked a little, pouting and crossing my arms and George nodded and made a gesture to Fred. 

“She does have friends, we’ve met them.” 

“Know them quite well, actually.” Fred added, nodding back. 

“I’d call them our friends too, wouldn’t you, Fred?” 

“I think I would, George.” 

“Maybe we should text them-” 

“-Ask if they’d like to hang out-”   
“-Apologize for Diana’s rudeness-” 

“-Her insolence-” 

“The bitch.” George shot me a smug look, and I made an exasperated sound, much to Bill’s amusement. 

“Fine, I’ll text them, I guess.”   
“I cannot wait to see Peaches.” George said in a joking manner, making Fred cackle, which made me frown a little, looking between all the Weasley boys. Bill offered me a helpless shrug, knocking into Ron’s shoulder. 

Eventually, we had a large group agreeing to meet in Hogsmead that afternoon. Fred and I remained pleasant until then, and every now and then I’d catch him looking at me, and he’d wink, and my stomach would flutter in the most embarrassing fucking way. I knew that Juliet, Wilda and Peaches would be mad that I hadn’t kept them updated with everything going on, but the days had gone by so fast, and we were all admittedly horrible communicators. It had taken Juliet until like twenty minutes before we left to say that she’d be there, and I didn’t even hear back from Wilda. Peaches had responded immediately though, just proving once again why she was always my favorite. 

I bundled up before we left, with an oversized puffer coat and a huge wool scarf, and pink beanie pulled low on my face. I wasn’t going to put on any makeup, but Ginny asked if she could put some on me, and so I let her. I could sense she was excited to have girls around. 

We apparated together, since Fred and George were old enough to perform magic, and Fred had insisted on taking my hand. The trip was jolty and nauseating, and I keeled over a little when we landed, holding my stomach and squeezing my eyes shut. I could hear Ron greeting his friends and Bill telling everyone that he’d just be hanging out at the Three Broomsticks if anyone needed him. Someone put a hand on my back, and I risked opening an eye to see Fred’s face peeking at me from where he’d crouched by my side. 

“You alright?” He asked in a soft voice, which made me laugh breathlessly, nodding and swallowing hard. 

“Yeah, I’ll be good. Just gimme a sec.” I got out as it sounded like George and Fred’s friends had arrived, George greeting them warmly. By the time I finally stood up, Alice, Bill and Ginny were gone. Potter and Ron were speaking adamantly as the girl from the other day was peering at me curiously. George was laughing at something Lee said, and the two girls I’d seen them hanging out with were listening intently. Fred gave me a cautious smile as I finally cleared my throat and shook my head slightly. 

“Better?” He asked in the same soft tone, and I nodded wordlessly, feeling shy without my friends. He offered a grin then, and slung an arm around my shoulders, dragging me over to George and their friends. 

“Sterling!” Lee exclaimed as I got closer, and I flushed under his attention, smiling shyly and pushing into Fred’s side slightly so that I was almost hidden behind him. 

“Hi Lee Jordan.” I said tentatively, and the boy offered a loud laugh. 

“Hi yourself- see, I remembered your name this time!”   
“And I’m flattered.” I told him gently. 

“So you’re Diana.” One of the girls said brightly, eyeing me curiously. She was taller than me, with short black curls peeking beneath a red hat. Her face was round, and very pretty, her umber skin glowing against her yellow scarf. She flashed me a bright smile and a knot tied in my stomach when she said, “I’m Angelina. It’s so nice to meet you.”   
I could sense that Fred noticed when I stiffened slightly, and he nudged me a little so that I wasn’t hiding behind him so much. 

“Nice to meet you too!” I tried to say brightly, but it came out sounding sort of muffled. Ron and his two friends had wandered over by now, and I was relieved at their familiar presence. 

“I’m Katie, also.” The other girl said loudly, sticking out a pink gloved hand. Her face was angular and reddened by the cold. It made me wonder how long the three of them had been outside. 

“Katie- got it.” I offered her a forced grin, and took the moment of shaking her hand to try and muster back some of my bravado, squaring my shoulders a little as I did so. I noticed Potter looking at me as Ron and the group exchanged pleasantries and Merry Christmasas. 

“Hi Potter.” I said brightly, and his face flushed slightly, but he broke out into a big grin. 

“Hey Sterling.”   
“How’s your holiday been so far?” 

“Been alright. Dad’s got his friends staying for the weekend, so the house has been sort of hectic as of late. Looking forward to the party tomorrow, though.”   
“Yes!” The girl next to him stepped forward, pushing some frizzy curls from her face, “I’m so looking forward to it to. It’s Diana, right? I’m Hermione.”   
“Hi Hermione.” I said lightly, feeling Fred’s grip loosen on me slightly as he spoke to his friends. I glanced up at his face, but he was smiling at something that Angelina was saying, which made the knot in my stomach hurt slightly. I tried my best to keep a light and easy tone, but the awkwardness of knowing what had happened between the two of them, of looking at her and seeing how much taller, how much prettier, how much funnier she was than me was making me feel uneasy and distant. 

And then I heard Peaches before I saw her, a body ramming into my side, knocking me into Fred and pulling all three of us down. The three of us rolled about in the snow as the girl clung to my neck, squealing and yelling as Fred managed to disentangle himself from us, pulling himself up before offering to do the same for me. I took his hand with a grateful look as the rest of the group laughed around us, elbowing Peaches violently to get her off of me. 

“Yeah, nice to see you too.” I grimaced when she finally got to her feet, peppering my face with kisses. 

“I thought Alice said you don’t like hugs.” Ron asked lamely as I tried to shove my friend away.   
“I don’t.” I said in an exasperated tone, holding Peaches at arms length. 

“But I’ve missed your pretty face!” She cried, trying to reach for me, which I slapped away. 

“It’s been like four days.” I muttered. 

“Four days too long!” She whined before looking around at the rest of our company, offering a bright and bubbly grin. “Hello!” 

“Hi Peaches.” George and Fred said in unison, Fred sounding a little dismissive, George amused. Peaches batted her lashes at them, and then hooked her arm into mine, pulling me in close so she could whisper in my ear. 

“Who’re they?” She hissed, nodding at Angelina and Katie. I frowned a little. 

“Um, Angelina and Katie- they’re friends with the twins. I think they’re-”   
“We’re chasers, for the Gryffindor team?” Katie said a little hotly, but Angelina laughed, throwing her head back and reaching to take my other elbow, effectively placing herself in between Fred and I. 

“Just because we play Quidditch doesn’t mean everyone will know our names, Katie. Besides, I don’t think Hufflepuffs pay very much attention to sports, do you loves?” 

“I pay attention to Quidditch boys.” Peaches sang with a dreamy sigh, and I looked at her curiously. 

“So you’re still talking to Irving?” I asked pointedly, knocking into her shoulder a little.   
“Mhm.” My friend hummed happily. 

“Let’s go get some butterbeer or something- my nose feels like it’s going to fall off.” Lee said suddenly, rubbing his face as he said so, and everyone gave various different levels of agreement. The boys turned to walk in front of us, and all the girls- including Hermione- seemed to hang back and let them all talk and rough house amongst one another. 

“Who’s Irving?” Angelina asked lightly, her arm loose and heavy within mine. I shoved my hands deeper in my pockets, keeping my gaze low and trying to ignore the hot, jealous feeling burning in my stomach. Just because Fred and I kissed a couple of times doesn’t mean that I have any right to be upset about her presence, right? Besides, maybe this was how he felt when he saw me with Cedric. Maybe it was worse, since apparently he liked me before then. But maybe he only liked me because Angelina had turned him down. Had she turned him down? What had happened between the two of them? As Peaches went on to explain who Irving was beside me, my mind raced back to the day that Fred and I had skipped class. He’d said that he thought they were going to date- they had gone to the Halloween dance together. Had he liked her before me, or had she liked him? How’d they end up sleeping together? Why didn’t it mean anything? I chewed on my lip, and didn’t notice that Peaches had asked me a question until she was poking her finger in my cheek. 

“Hello? Earth to Sterling.” She was saying, and I blinked, lifting my gaze up to meet hers. She rose a brow at my expression, but didn’t say anything about it, just making a little face and leaning in close. “What’s going on with you and Weasley twin number one?” 

“Number one?” I mumbled out dismissively, and Angelina let out a loud tinkling laugh next to me. 

“Number one, I like that. Katie used to call them thing one and thing two when we were younger, but we grew out of that a while ago.”   
“Thing one and thing two?” 

“Like in the Dr. Seuss book?” 

“Dr. Seuss?”   
“Oh.” Angelina shared a look between the three other girls before giggling again, “It’s a muggle thing, I guess.” 

“Um, cool.” I got out, glancing over at Katie and Hermione, who seemed to have picked up their own conversation about being muggle borns. Peaches moved so that her face was in my view, and let out a loud “hellooo” again. 

“Yeah, what.” I said in an annoyed tone, huffing slightly. 

“Fred, Diana. What the fuck is going on there? I haven’t heard from you like, at all. I’d thought maybe you’d died. That maybe he’d killed you.” 

“Killed you?” Angelina butted in curiously, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her pretty face, going back to look at the ground, cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Why on earth would Fred Weasley want to kill you? He’s said nothing but darling things about you!”   
“I know right!” Peaches squealed, and Angelina laughed a little at her antics. I could feel her nodding, and reached up to pull my hat a little lower on my face. 

“Wait so, is something finally happening between you two? Because he’s fancied you for like, ever.” Angelina continued, and Peaches reached up to slap my hand away, pushing her fingers into my face again. 

“Oh my _god,_ okay we um- I guess we sort of- like- I dunno. Made up last night? Made out? I don’t know how to explain it.”   
Suddenly Hermione let out a little peal of giggles from behind Peaches. I looked up at her. 

“Harry’s going to be upset to hear that.” She said lightly, speeding up so she could join the conversation. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head and going back to staring at the ground. 

“You guys made out though! That’s so great!” Peaches cried, shaking my arm a little. I shrugged, opening my mouth to continue, but all that came out was a shocked little gasp as something wet and hard hit me square in the face. Everyone around me burst out into giggles as the girls let go of my arms so that I could wipe the snow away from my eyes, glaring at George, who was doubled over with laughter. 

“You’re face!” He cried, slapping his knee. Fred stood next to him in a ready stance, and swung the snowball in his hand towards me when our eyes met, and it hit me square in the chest. I wordlessly dipped to the snow as he did the same, trying to construct a snowball as beside me Peaches let out a small shriek, running away from me. Another ball hit me me in the shoulder, and I glanced up just in time to see Fred dipping behind a tree, George running after him, laughing as he did so. Lee had taken cover as well, and was aiming at Katie while Ron and Harry seemed dead set on hitting Hermione as much as they could, Ron sending snowball after snowball her way as she sidestepped almost all of them, ducking and laughing, and running towards the two boys as she did so. I ran towards where Fred was hiding, and realized Angelina was close behind me, holding a huge chunk of snow. Her long legs got her to the twins first, and she dumped the thing over Fred’s head, making him cringe and laugh and push her a little as he tried to get away. But I cornered them, and grabbed at George’s collar, shoving my handful of snow down the back of his shirt. He cried out and shoved me, but I was still holding onto his collar, and so when I stumbled and fell I pulled him with me, and the two of us ended up wrestling in the snow, me finally getting away when I managed to scoop some snow into his face, making him sputter and squeeze his eyes shut. 

When I got to my feet I felt two strong arms pick me off the ground and suddenly I was moving away from the group, and I let out a loud indignant sound as I tried to kick myself free, tried to shove the hands off of me. 

And then I was being pushed up against a tree, and Fred’s brown eyes were peering up into mine. My feet hovered a couple of inches from the ground, and I paused in my kicking as he leaned in close. I could hear the laughing and ruckus of our friends a couple of feet away, but the sound dimmed as I watched Fred’s grin soften and his eyes flick to my lips and back up again. My heart hammered in my chest as his face came so close that I could feel his breath fanning across my face, smelling like cinnamon gum and nicotine. 

“I liked sleeping with you, last night.” He said in a gentle whisper, and I felt my body relax, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as his hands lowered me a little, going to wrap around my waist and pull me in close to him.   
“I liked sleeping with you too.” I said lightly, feeling the anxiety and jealousy that had built up in my stomach quickly dissipating. 

“Did you know that you snore?” He said in a teasing tone, moving to press small kisses along my jawline. 

“Actually Alice has complained about that more than once.” I sighed cheerfully, moving a hand to tangle itself in his hair. Fred’s face came back to mine then, and he pressed a gentle kiss on my lips, pecking a couple of times before finally deepening it in response to my small whine, his hands gripping at my hips, smiling into the kiss. 

And then we were hit by another handful of snow. 

“Get a room!” Ron’s voice cried through the trees, and Fred let out a loud laugh as I sputtered and whined, leaving me to wipe the wet stuff off as he scooped some snow up, rushing to get revenge. 

  
  
  


“You guys are so cute.” Peaches hissed into my ear once the group of us finally reached the Three Broomsticks. I was wet, and cold, and miserable, and waiting my turn as the older kids performed drying spells on all of us before entering the pub. I caught Fred’s eye as Peaches spoke, and he shot me a playful look, sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes. It made me smile. 

“Are we?” I said thoughtlessly, and Peaches made a small little sound. “Oh, but-” I gasped slightly, turning to grasp at Peaches’s arm, “Peaches, bitch, I have so much to fucking tell you.”   
Peaches gave me an excited look.   
“Really!” She squealed happily, going to grab my arm back, “Wait I’m so excited, like Irving has been darling and all but I’ve been so bored without your whole rom com love life drama.”   
“You have updates on the rom com drama?” A voice came from behind us, and Peaches’s face lit into a bright grin.   
“Juliet!” she cried as I turned to see our friend. Her long hair was gone now, chopped to her chin, and hung thick and straight around her angular face. 

“Oh my gosh, what the fuck, you look so pretty.” I gasped as Peaches flung her arms around our taller friend, knocking the girl back slightly. Juliet’s face flushed, and she shrugged as she disentangled herself from Peaches, moving to give the girl a more proper hug before greeting me in kind. 

“I just needed a change, you know?” She muttered as she pulled back, tugging on a couple of the strands. “Sorry I’m so late- my brother was going to take me, but he had this whole fight with his girlfriend and it took so long. But I’m here now.”   
“Henry’s here!” Peaches squealed, looking around Juliet, “Where? Oh, can we say hi? How’s he doing?” 

Henry, Juliet’s older brother, was about three years older than us, studying to be an auror, and was a fucking dreamboat. Peaches had this whole plan to marry him someday, especially because she loved Juliet’s family so much, but Henry had yet to show any interest in our friend. 

“He went to Zonko’s. Something about getting a thing for Tommy? I dunno- but I’m here, and that’s all that matters. What’s the updates in the gossip?” She flicked her hair out of her face as she spoke. 

“Gossip?” Fred said lightly from beside me, and I jumped a little to look up at him. He held his wand up, gesturing to my wet hair. “Need some help with that?”   
I nodded, and he cast the drying charm over me, and a warmth rushed through my body. I sighed happily, hugging myself and smiling up at him. He smiled back, and Juliet looked between the two of us. 

“Okay well, I can see that everything here has been solved.” She said lightly, moving to grab Peaches’s arm, “We’ll just go inside, or something.”   
“What- no, I need a drying charm too!” Peaches cried as she was dragged into the Three Broomsticks. 

I realized suddenly that everyone else had gone inside too at this point, and it was just Fred and I outside. 

“So- um, butterbeer?” I said simply, gesturing to the door. Fred cocked his head to the side, humming thoughtfully.   
“I guess we could do that. Or we could just ditch them- do something else.” 

My heart fluttered a little, but I shook my head. 

“We can’t do that. My friends came all this time to see me.” 

Fred’s face fell a little, but he nodded. His expression made my chest tighten, and I reached out to play with one of his hands, shyly keeping my gaze on it as I did so.   
“I mean, maybe we could come back though- like another time. Um, like, just the two of us. Or something.” 

I couldn’t see his face, but his fingers entangled themselves with mine, and his hand was so much bigger than mine. And then his other hand was lifting my chin to look up at him, and he was pressing a soft kiss to my lips. I made a small surprised sound, and my hand that was entangled with his went up to his cheek, holding it there. We kissed for a short moment before he pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine. 

“I’d love that.” He whispered, and I smiled. 

“Cool.”   
“Cool.”


	19. Angelina

Catching up with Peaches and Juliet was fun, albeit it was a little sad that Wilda never showed up, and for some reason George kept trying to get Peaches’s attention now that she had moved on from bothering him. They were over the moon that Fred and I had finally worked things out, and were on the way to getting together, it seemed. 

“What about Cedric, though?” Juliet asked in a hushed tone at one point. We’d sat ourselves a little ways away from everyone, as most of their conversation pertained to jokes we didn’t really get and sports we didn’t really care about.   
“Oh, fuck, I forgot he’ll be there tomorrow night.” I said with a groan, dropping my head into my hands. 

“Well, if you want to be with Fred than that’s simple- just don’t interact with Cedric. Besides, it sounds like there’ll be a lot of people there. I think even Angelina was mentioning she goes to the Weasley party. I wish I could get an invite, it sounds like so much fun.” Peaches pouted dramatically, but I looked up at her, holding my hands to my face.   
“Hold up go back- Angelina’s going to be there too?” 

Peaches shrugged.   
“That’s what it sounded like, at least.”   
I glanced at the table that held the rest of our party. Fred was leaning in close to say something to Angelina, who was rolling her eyes and shaking her head, amusement playing along her lips. She caught my eye, and I hurriedly looked away, slumping a little. Juliet gave me a questioning look, and I chewed on my lip, leaning in close so I could whisper to them.

“Okay, you guys can’t tell anyone.”   
“Of course.” Juliet supplied quickly, ducking so she could hear me better. 

“Well, except Wilda, of course.” Peaches quipped. I nodded, waving a hand. 

“Yeah, of course, Wilda doesn’t count- but, okay um- so we were playing never have I ever last night, right? And um, so, at some points someone said ‘never have i ever had sex’, or something-” 

“What? Who would say that- that’s so awkward!” Juliet hissed, but Peaches and I both made a face before I simply continued,   
“So, both George and Fred drank, and then um- so I was like, kind of snuggled up with Fred, right? And he went to pass the bottle to me but I was like oh um, awkward, I’m a virgin, and he was all like- oh, awkward. And then _later_ I was curious right so I asked who he’d done it with and he’d told me it was with _Angelina_.” 

“ _Oh._ ” Juliet breathed meaningfully, and to my horror they both looked over at the girl.   
“Guys! What the fuck!” I hissed, trying to get their attention away from her, but when I glanced at the table I caught her eye again, and I felt my face flush. Fred was laughing, and he bumped her shoulder slightly as he did so, and the moment made my stomach drop. I hurriedly looked back at my friend. Juliet had turned away as well, looking at me worriedly while Peaches continued to watch unabashedly. 

“They are friendly.” She observed, and I let out a little huff. 

“So, did they like, date or something?” Juliet asked, and I shrugged a little. 

“He’d told me before that he thought they would at some point, but they never did, and so like, I dunno. I just um- I keep wondering you know, when exactly he started liking me and like, if it had anything to do with whatever must have happened between them? And like, he told me it wasn’t anything serious or whatever but they’re so….”

I glanced over again, and Angelina had seemed to move away from Fred slightly, which caused him to give her a look, slinging an arm around her shoulders and dragging her into his side. She caught me watching a third time, and this time I just sighed a little, turning back to the table and twiddling my thumbs. 

“Cozy.” Juliet hummed, dropping her chin into her hand. “Well, I mean, is that something that could influence your relationship with him?” 

I slumped in my chair a little.   
“See that’s the thing- I don’t know, you know? I just feel like I don’t know anything about him.”   
“You know a lot about Cedric.” Peaches said thoughtfully, reaching to sip her hot chocolate. 

“Yeah, well, he’s been my friend, I guess. And Fred has just been… I dunno, someone I know? Or whatever. Like I’d never really considered him my _friend_ , if that makes sense.”   
Suddenly a chair scraped next to us, and I looked up to see Angelina holding a seat there, looking between the three of us, smiling a little. 

“Do you mind if I join you guys?” She asked gently, and I shrugged as Juliet hummed an okay. Peaches just watched suspiciously. Angelina laughed nervously at her expression, sitting tentatively and folding her hands on the table. 

“I’ve noticed that you and um- that you and Fred seem to have something going on together.” She said softly after none of us made a move to speak. Her eyes flickered from her hands to my face and back, and I nodded a little, sitting back in my chair and looking over at him. He’d moved into where Angelina had been sitting, so as to be closer to Lee, who was doing something with his hands, creating some sort of sparks between them. 

“I guess we’re like- I dunno. It was only like, one night. I dunno.” I sputtered out thoughtlessly, feeling my face flush and get a little sweaty. Juliet giggled a little, making me shoot her a glare. Angelina gave me an apologetic look. 

“I just- um, I know that Fred can be a little slow with things. But I- you know, I love the idiot. So, um, if you ever want advice, or something about him? Like, he’s one of my best friends and I just- I want the best for him. And he’s like, really fancied you. We’ve all been making fun of him for it for months, you know?” 

I felt a little taken aback by her honesty, and felt small under her searching eyes, which were so perfectly framed by long dark lashes.   
“I just don’t want him to get hurt.” She said in a softer, warmer tone, and my heart stuttered. 

“What happened between you two?” Peaches suddenly said roughly, and it was her turn to receive my glare as Angelina looked at her in surprise, letting out another nervous laugh. 

“What do you mean?” 

“You two like, were at the Halloween dance together, weren’t you?”   
“Well, yeah, but, as mates, you know?” 

Juliet let out a disbelieving hum, reaching down to stir her cup of coffee. I reached out to play with my own, stubbornly not looking at anyone anymore, slumping further in my chair so my shoulders were level with the table. My knees knocked into Peaches’s. 

“He told you, then.” Angelina suddenly whispered. I kept my eyes on the coffee cup. 

“Well, technically he told Diana, but telling Diana means telling us.” Juliet told her awkwardly. Angelina nodded a little, also keeping her eyes on the table. We all sat there in a heavy moment of silence before she sighed, moving to rub at her temple. 

“We were drunk, and we just- I guess, we both were pining over people we couldn’t have, if that makes sense. And I mean, Fred and my friendship has always sort of been a little… Physical, you know? But not in like, a romantic way? Like everything we’ve ever done has been like, drunken mistakes when we were sad, or something.” Her voice trailed off as she spoke, and I looked up at her tentatively then, and our eyes connected, and she smiled sweetly. I nodded, rubbing my thumb against the lip of my cup absently. 

“That sounds… Nice.” I said simply after another beat of silence. She dropped her hands and sighed a little. 

“I seriously just- I just want what’s best for him. And I really do think that you’re what’s best for him. I really am very happy that you two seemed to have finally connected. Genuinely.” She tried to smile warmly again, but for a moment I felt like it didn’t meet her eyes. I wondered who the person she couldn’t have was. She was surely pretty enough to have anyone. 

“Yes, Diana and Fred will be great together- once Diana decides between Cedric and Fred.” Peaches said cheerfully, any hostility in her demeanor having vanished. I blanched at her while Angelina looked between us in surprise. 

“Cedric Diggory?” 

“The one and only.” I said with a heavy sigh, moving to try and take a sip from my coffee cup. But at the weird angle I was sitting the liquid wouldn’t quite meet my lips, and I made a frustrated sound at having to sit up slightly. I sensed someone looking at me as I did so, and looked over to catch Fred’s eye. He was smiling in such a dopey way it almost made my head hurt, and my heart quickened, threatening to thump out of my chest. When he noticed I was looking his way he grinned, and it made his face so handsome that something unbearable swelled in my chest. He just looked so…. Cute. I guess I’d never noticed how cute he was before. 

“God fucking damnit.” I muttered into my coffee cup, earning curious looks from everyone present. 

  
  


Once we got back to the burrow I was fucking exhasted. The excitement of the snowball fight, seeing my friends, the toll of apparating and the little sleep I’d gotten last night were just a whole clusterfuck of things that had taken their toll. My eyesight was a little blurry when we all landed in the living room, and I hurried up to Charlie’s room before having to deal with any of the parents. The whole house smelled like food, and decorations had seemed to appear in every corner of the house, including Charlie’s room. I could see the tent pitched in the backyard already from the bedroom window, and watched as Mr.Weasley enchanted a huge wooden bucket full of ice and bottles to be ushered into it. There was a soft knock at my door after a little while, and my mom’s face appeared behind it. 

“Dinner in ten.” She said gently, and I nodded, sighing heavily and pushing hair away from my face. She hovered for a moment, and I looked at her. “Can we talk?” Her voice sounded so small, and I gestured for her to come in.

“What’s up?” I asked brightly as she went to sit on the bed, having clicked the door closed behind her. She patted the space next to her, and I took it.

“Well, it seems like everything’s going well with Fred now.” She started with, offering me a genuine and small smile. I returned it shyly. 

“Um, yeah. I think we- we’re getting along now.”   
“It’s so obvious he likes you a lot, you know. Molly told me that George had been complaining for months that you were all Fred was talking about.”   
The idea made me a little dizzy. Months? 

“Yeah I’ve um- I mean I’ve heard.” I played with the edge of the blanket absently, “I guess I’m just nervous about tomorrow.”   
“Tomorrow?” My mom asked. 

“Well, with all the people here. And- um, that boy, Cedric? He’s going to be here too. His dad is friends with Mr.Weasley, and…. Yeah.” 

My mom hummed thoughtfully, reaching over to rub my back a little.

“But you know, Diana, this behaviour has really not been okay. I mean, the way he was acting when we first got here- I had half the mind to leave, honestly.” Her voice grew a little harsh, and any excitement or adrenaline from the past 24 hours was gone, replaced with exhaustion. 

“I know, mom. I’m sorry.” I said in a small voice, and she looked at me sternly. 

“It’s just- we can’t have anymore of that. If either of you start acting so… So rudely- Diana, we’re guests here. I was so appalled at your behaviour and- well, honestly if it weren’t for Molly being so accommodating about it-” 

“-I know, mom, I’m sorry. It won’t happen anymore. Promise.”   
My mom leveled me with a look. 

“Really, Diana-”

“Seriously.” I said a little curtly, “Seriously. It’s over now- you don’t have to worry about it.”   
Mom let out a long sigh, and then pulled me in for an awkward hug. I stiffened, and it was over as soon as it had began. 

“Look mom, I’m kind of tired, so-” I started, but my mom stopped me with a shake of her head, placing her hands on top of mine. 

“There’s something else we have to talk about.” She said in a very serious tone. My blood went cold at the way she wouldn’t meet my eyes 

“What is it?” I asked in an even tone. She took a deep breath, and patted my hand. 

“David asked me to move in with him.”   
I suddenly felt very heavy, and very alone. 

“No.” I whispered, and mom continued to keep her eyes low. I snatched my hands away from her. “No, mom, you can’t I- like, seriously, come on. He’s so horrible mom he- he’s kicked me out so many times and-”

“Well, if you weren’t so rude to him and made more of an effort to-” 

“Rude?” I sputtered, trying to keep my tone at a normal volume, “Mom, I have been  _ nothing  _ but polite and accommodating to him! He’s the one who keeps picking these random fights and like- not even with  _ me,  _ mom, he keeps picking fights with  _ you  _ and then we always fight and he just causes so much drama mom I can’t- I can’t- if you’re living with him where- where am I supposed to go?” My voice cracked a little and she did look up at me then. 

“Where will you go?” She asked incredulously, and I sensed it had been the wrong thing to say. She stood up abruptly, shaking her head. “You know, Diana, if you weren’t so- so-  _ bratty  _ maybe there wouldn’t be so many people who had a problem with you.” 

“Bratty?” I cried as she went towards the door, “Are you fucking serious? You think I’m being  _ bratty _ ?” 

Mom heaved out a great sigh as she opened the door, turning before she went and leveling me with a tense look. 

“He’s going to be at the party tomorrow. If you aren’t on your best behaviour then you’ll see what it _really_ means to not have anywhere to go.”   
I hadn’t been anticipating the sob that wrenched from my chest after the door closed, and I held my breath directly after, trying to swallow the breakdown away, trying to shove it deep inside myself. 


	20. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so like not driving the plot and pretty short aaaah whatever enjoy

David showed up before I left my room the next morning. Molly was busy in the kitchen, and he was sitting awkwardly at the table in between the twins, who were peering at him curiously. I tried my best to dart into the living room when I realized he was there, but my mom appeared in my way out of like, fucking nowhere, and caught my arm. 

“I hope that’s not what you’re planning on wearing tonight.” Was the first thing she said, sneering at my outfit, which consisted of a beige sweater, ratty blue jeans that used to be Judas’s, and a white turtleneck underneath. I glowered at her.   
“Morning to you too.” I mumbled as she tugged me back into the kitchen. I met Fred’s eye first, and he beamed at me, which made my stomach churn. I offered him a weak smile as my mom plopped me across from David. We looked at one another, and I murmured a quiet greeting, which he simply nodded at. When we’d first met one another, I’d made endless attempts to be polite and greet David whenever he walked into a room, at my mother’s request, but over time I learned the nod was the most I’d get from him, and that trying any sort of small talk was pointless as he’d just blink at me. Unless I was doing something that upset him- then he’d roar. But for now we were civil, and the twins seemed to pick up on our tense atmosphere as Ginny and Alice appeared in the kitchen as well. 

“Morning, lot.” Ginny said cheerfully as she snagged a cookie from underneath Molly’s arm, ducking out of the way before her mother could land a playful smack. 

“It’s nearly noon, you three.” The woman chided, looking between us girls, “The boys here have been up and helping since morning!” 

“Good for them.” Ginny quipped, nibbling on her cookie as she sat down next to me. “Hello.” She said to David, who gave her a nod as well. 

“Talkative bloke.” George said lightly, earning a sharp look from both David and his mother. He shrugged, and stood, going to the counter and clanging as he got a mug and the kettle. Fred seemed to understand what he was doing immediately, and stood as well, going to help. 

“Good trip here, David?” Alice asked politely as she sat at the table as well, folding her hands and peering at the older man. 

“It was alright.” David said carefully, refusing to look my sister’s way, which made my blood boil and my hands clench. But then Fred was placing a mug before me quite dramatically, and then another for Ginny, and another for Alice. 

“Coffee?” I asked in surprise when the smell hit my nose, grasping at the cup and holding it to my lips happily. But the smell had a slightly strange underlying scent, and I furrowed my brow at Fred. He shrugged with a sheepish smile, and I hesitated to try it. Taking something from the twins was always a gamble, but Ginny seemed to be sipping the liquid happily beside me, and so I took a tentative taste. The underlying scent was whiskey, I registered, the moment it hit my throat. It burned slightly, and I sputtered and coughed for a moment, causing everyone at the table to look at me. Alice thumped my back a little harder than necessary, and I glared at her once the coughing subsided. 

“A little pick me up.” Fred whispered gleefully when I turned the glare his way, and David raised a brow, looking between the cup and my face. I felt my cheeks burn, but the whiskey was welcomed in the awkward situation, and so I took another sip eagerly. 

“Is there a lot more to be done before guests start arriving, mum?” George asked as he took his seat again, holding his own mug to his chest- tea, and I wondered if it was spiked the same as mine. 

“No, no, not much.” Molly said, waving a hand and placing a plate of small cakes and fruit before David, “Just waiting for Bill and your father to return with that tree.” 

“Another tree?” I asked absently, watching as Fred shoved three cakes into his mouth at the same time, puffing out his cheeks and grinning at George, who attempted the same action but with four. 

“For outside. Can’t have a Christmas party without a tree, now can we?” Their mother was saying happily as she seemed to not notice her boys’ antics- or, perhaps, just ignore them. Ginny giggled when Fred tried to squeeze a fifth cake into his mouth, and started choking a little. George chewed triumphantly as Fred ducked to spit some of the cake out into his hand. David made a small and angry exhale. I wondered where my mom had gotten to. 

“Gross.” Alice deadpanned, and Fred stuck his tongue out at her. I was surprised when he glanced at me, then, and grinned to catch me watching. I couldn’t help but grin back. 

“Good to see you two made up!” Molly suddenly said, and I hadn’t even realized that she’d sat down at the table with us. She had a glass in front of her that looked suspiciously like a mixed drink, and her cheeks were slightly flushed. When did this family start drinking? Fred coughed awkwardly, trying to hide the fact that his cheeks had turned pink, but he shot me another shy smile. I ducked my head as well, tugging on a piece of my hair. 

“Yup. All the tension’s resolved, it seems.” George announced playfully, and Fred snagged a grape from the plate, tossing it over David’s head at his brother. David glowered, but said nothing, and I started to tap my fingers on the table anxiously. 

“Oh, I’m so glad.” Molly cooed, and then turned slightly to indicate she was talking to David, “See, Diana and Fred were fighting when they first arrived. Something about a- oh, a boy? Is that right?” She looked between the two of us. Fred had turned away from her slightly, and blanched at her question, face turning impossibly scarlet, “Yes, I think it was something about a boy that Diana liked? Oh! I remember- the Diggory boy, isn’t that right? Well, anyway, I’m glad you two figured everything out in time for the party- I’d hate for there to be a scene tonight.” She paused meaningfully, eyes darting between Fred and George, the latter of whom looked as though he wanted to leap from his seat- the other watching and listening with an amused smile. “You hear me, boys? No funny business tonight. We have a lot of guests coming this year, and I really don’t want to have to keep tabs on you two as well.” 

“Course, mum.” Fred said awkwardly. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, mum.” George added on. 

“We’ll be nothing but angels.” Fred expanded. 

“Saint-like, if you will.” 

“On our best behavior-” 

“As per usual.” They finished in unison, and Molly huffed in amusement. 

“Oh, you two.” She said fondly, going to ruffle Fred’s hair, who tried to duck unsuccessfully out of her reach. 

  
  
  


“Best behavior?” Ginny reiterated later, after Molly had deemed it alright for us kids to leave the kitchen, my mom having reappeared to entertain David on her own. 

“But of course.” George supplied absently. 

“So no big prank this year, then?” The girl prodded. We were all squished into the living room, Ron having appeared as well, looking moody and hair sticking up every which way. He was still in his pjs, and sat as far away from Alice as was possible. 

“Oh, don’t be daft sister.” Fred said with a scoff, “Wouldn’t be Christmas without a big prank.” 

“‘S just one that mum probably won’t notice.” George said. 

“Mum won’t notice? You’re mad. Mum notices everything.” 

“Nah, with the way we’ve been mixing her drinks, she won’t notice anything in an hour or two.” Fred said. 

“That’s a little fucked up.” I announced suddenly. The boys turned to look at me. “Well, like, making your mom drunker than she realizes. Fucked up.” I waved a hand languidly. Alice snickered. Fred shook his head. 

“Mum always gets pissed before the Christmas party. We were just speeding things up a little bit.” 

“She won’t mind.” George injected. “She never does.” 

“We did this last year.” Fred added. 

“Didn’t mind it then, won’t mind it now.” 

“So what’s the prank?” Alice asked. The twins tutted simultaneously. 

“Can’t ruin the surprise.” 

“Wouldn’t be fair.” 

“It’ll be worth the wait.” 

“We promise.” They finished together. 

“God I hate when you do that.” I said without thinking. Fred laughed. George beamed, and elbowed his twin playfully. 

“Wait, is that why you were up so early?” Ginny said suddenly. They sent her sly looks, and she rolled her eyes. “Can’t believe mum was making  _ us _ out to be the bad guys.” 

“Aw, hey now, we are very helpful sons.” 

“Dutiful boys.” 

“The favorites, if you will.” 

It was easy to tell that they’d missed one another. It was weird to think that something as simple as a dumb crush had gotten inbetween them the last couple of days. But it was good to see that neither held any ill will. George, if anything, seemed to be beaming at the reconnection. I sipped at my spiked coffee idly as my eye wandered, and landed on Alice, who was looking at me meaningfully. 

‘What’ I mouthed at her. She rolled her eyes, and then glanced pointedly at Ron, who was slumped low in an armchair, looking tired and miserable. I chewed on my lip, and then glanced over at Fred, who was cheerfully entertaining a back and forth with George again. I locked eyes with Alice once more, and gestured towards the stairs. She nodded, and we stood up at the same time. Ginny looked over at us immediately. 

“Um.” I said dully as the twins paused. “I- uh, well, mom said that she didn’t like my outfit and I- we- Alice has something I can wear.” 

Alice nodded enthusiastically. 

“Can I help?” Ginny asked. I glanced at Alice, who sighed slightly and then shrugged. So I just nodded, and the three of us headed to Ginny’s room. 

  
  
  
  
  


“Do you actually have something I can wear?” I asked absently once the door was closed. Alice huffed. 

“No.” She said, flopping onto Ginny’s bed and clasping her hands over her chest. Ginny looked between the two of us. 

“You can borrow something of mine, if you’d like. I’d bet we’re the same size.” 

I regarded her small stature, and felt slightly insulted at the idea that I was the same size as a thirteen year old, but relented that she was probably right. So I simply nodded, and she went to fish around in her closet. 

“So.” I announced as I sat next to Alice, patting her stomach hard and making her let out a little ‘oof’, “What’s going on.” 

Alice let out a dramatic groan, and covered her face. 

“I did something bad.” She moaned behind her hands. I nodded and patted them. 

“It’s inherited, sweetie. In your blood. Nothing you can do but accept it.” 

“But it’s so bad, Diana. Like, fuck, I didn’t know he liked me!” 

“Who liked you?” Ginny asked as she pulled out a dress. It was a deep red, with a cowl neck and thin straps, and I blanched at the sight of it- it was much too grown up for a thirteen year old to own.

“Why the hell do you have something like that?” I sputtered as she brought it over to me. 

“Oh, um, Bill’s new girlfriend apparently wanted me to have it. It’s a little too.. Uh, revealing for me though.” She placed it in my lap, and I held it up with both hands. “Please try it on. I bet it’ll look incredible on you.” 

I bit my lip. The fabric was silky, and it shimmered slightly in the sunlight. 

“Are you sure? This is such a pretty dress… I don’t want to ruin it or anything.” I could feel the whiskey from earlier buzzing in my veins already, and everytime I’d spilled something on myself while drunk flashed through my mind. Ginny giggled. 

“It’s totally fine- it’s not like Bill’s girlfriend is going to last. They almost rarely do. You can keep it, honestly, if it fits.” 

“Um, hello.” Alice said suddenly, “I am going through a major crisis here.” 

“Right.” Ginny and I said in an overlapping way. Alice huffed. 

“Ron.” She said. 

We waited for her to continue, but she didn’t, she just stared at the ceiling. I played with the fabric on my lap. 

“Well, as someone who’s in sort of the same situation as you, I’d say… Choose the one you like better?” 

“I feel bad, though.” Alice sat up very suddenly, and Ginny seemed thoughtful beside her. “I didn’t mean- I mean- ugh. It just sort of happened?” 

I patted her head. 

“Yeah, Cimex, trust me, I get it.” 

“Aren’t you with Neville, though?” Ginny asked suddenly. Alice groaned and flung herself back on the bed. 

“Yes! Or- ugh. Technically? I guess. I dunno. We haven’t like- made anything official. I think part of him is still hoping Luna’s into him.” My sister paused then, glancing at Ginny carefully. The girl worked her jaw, seeming to be thinking about something carefully. 

“I don’t think Neville is Luna’s type.” She said after a moment. I raised a brow at her. 

“Who is, then?” I asked teasingly. Ginny bit her lip, flushing a little. 

“Me.” She whispered. I froze- Alice groaned once more. 

“I knew it!” She cried out. “I told Neville that I thought so! Fuck, that would have been such an easy out.” 

Ginny and I looked at one another for a moment, I could tell she was waiting for me to comment on what she’d said. I settled on giving her a small smile and patting her on the head a little. When she seemed properly reassured, I turned back to Alice. 

“Do you want an out with Neville?” I summoned up my best ‘older sister knows best’ voice. Alice covered her face with her hands again, shaking her head. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” She murmured. The image made a thought occur to me; it made me realize that, I, actually, did know. I knew who I wanted. I knew who I would want an out from. The realization made my stomach flutter and my palms go sweaty. I knew exactly who I wanted. 

“You will.” I murmured absently, patting the hands covering your face. “You’ll figure it out. Just- just focus on having fun tonight, maybe?” 

“But what do I do about Ron?” She whined. I bit my lip, chewing on it for a moment. 

“Just- be nice to him, maybe? But not, like, too nice. Just nice enough. Actually, you guys, I promised I’d facetime Peaches.” I stood to go, and Alice cried out, trying to grab my hand as I went. 

“Don’t leave me!” She exclaimed. I shook my head. 

“No, I really have to talk to her. Hey, Ginny, why don’t you do Alice’s makeup?” 

Ginny beamed at the idea, and Alice shot me a hot glare as I slipped out the door, offering her an apologetic grimace as I went. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof ok so i think im trying to gear up to end this thing soon bc i have hit a specTAcular writers block for it  
> like i wanna finish her but the drive is gone idk where it went rip rip
> 
> also !! im having a hard time coming up with what the prank could be for the twins sO if anyone reading has a suggestion please!! feel free to comment !! also let me know if you just have any things that might be funny to see happen at the party because as i said- writers block :( 
> 
> anyway thank you so much for reading this far and sticking it out with me if you've been waiting for a while i really appreciate it!!!!! xoxo cat


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